Troy Smith – Ohio State Quarterback

The Buckeyes start the season at #1 in the Coach’s Poll. Here’s a story to provide a little more color. As Coach Tressel correctly observes, it’s not where you start, it’s where you end the season that matters. I’m delighted to see the national respect, but I personally believe any one of 8 or so teams could stake a legitimate claim to a #1 ranking presently (though with the events of this week it’s hard to see how Oklahoma is real and I don’t think the offseason has made Notre Dame’s defense any faster – 617 yards of offense for tOSU.)

So far as the Scarlet and Gray go, I’m concerned about 9 new defensive starters and a couple of replacements on the offensive line. In my experience, those things take a little while to come together. And, unfortunately, the schedule is not kind with early tests at Texas and Iowa, away, at night. Let’s face it, as successful as tOSU has been, night games haven’t been kind nor have away games. Think Wisconsin, Northwestern, Iowa, PSU, and Texas losses in the last few seasons.

We’ll know alot more about this year’s version of the team by October. I can’t wait!

On other fronts, this has been one of the worst weeks of my professional career. I’ve never had to endure so much bad news in so little time with so many people. I want to take time to thank everyone who sent kind notes, great outreach calls, and the support of my leadership team. Going with the football theme from above, we’ve been through some horrible times and I can state categorically that our team held together through the toughest of times. Eric, Klarissa, Subodh, Connie, Kevin, Nancy, Denny, and Peggy – my hat is off to you. You rock. Thank you.

I’ve gotten a load of questions about what I’ll be doing next. Stay tuned for an entry about that in the next couple of days. I’m afraid I feel like a wrung out dishrag right now.