Kneel Down And Kiss The Ring:2015 The Ohio State Buckeyes National Championship Title Defense Thread
- Thread starter Illeye buckmatic
- Start date
Looking like Erick Smith might have a torn acl. Db's dropping like flies man 
Maybe we can trade Cardale for Justin GilbertLooking like Erick Smith might have a torn acl. Db's dropping like flies man
We have JT to fall back on
Gilbert would add depth as our 4th cb
What you think @jaguar paw 
Maybe we can trade Cardale for Justin Gilbert
Maybe we can trade Cardale for Justin Gilbert
QuarterCenturyLegend
Stoopid Life
Danny is maturing. I really enjoyed this post as I was drinking my morning coffee.
AKRON, Ohio -- The golden dome that serves as the entrance to Archbishop Hoban High School should be the only thing that draws attention as you're pulling into the main parking lot.
But Danny Clark ruined what would have otherwise been a tranquil moment by sticking his head out the window of his second-story art class, pointing to the entrance and yelling, "I'll meet you down there."
Clark wasn't concerned about the 20 minutes left in art. In his head, he was on his way down.
What's the big deal? Clark is the starting quarterback for undefeated Hoban, he's Ohio State's quarterback of the future and he already took his big math test earlier that day.
But by the time Clark made it down to the athletics office, 30 minutes passed.
At Hoban, as Clark realizes now, there's no leaving art class early, even if it's 10 minutes, to speak to a reporter.
"Whether it's your final exam in math or an art project," Clark told Northeast Ohio Media Group last week, "every single thing has to be taken as serious as can be." You have to understand where Clark came from. It'll give you a better grasp of where he's going, and perhaps why, at a new school, he's finally having the season you'd expect from a quarterback who is going to Ohio State.
This is Clark's first year at Hoban, a college prep school. The year before, he was the hot-shot quarterback for the football-crazed Massillon Tigers. He was 15-years-old, but a local celebrity in town. When walked around the main drag of Massillon, cars yelled at him out the
window to throw touchdowns. Clark's
picture used to hang behind the bar at
local watering holes. There were shots
named after him. It's insane.
So imagine what last year must have been like for him, to be a sophomore who was already committed to Ohio State for a year, but the leader of a team that was losing while he was failing to put up impressive numbers.
In Massillon, that's not tolerated. Add into the equation that he's going to Ohio State, and there's a whole other level of pressure.
"That's why at the end of (last year) I was like, 'Man, we have to figure something out. We have to get a fresh start,' " Clark said. "And with Ohio State, there's a lot of quarterbacks out there. I know Ohio State is not going to hold onto some kid who had one good freshman year." Don't take that as Clark running away from the pressure of high school fame. Because if he couldn't handle pressure in Massillon, he doesn't have any idea what's waiting for him as a potential Ohio State quarterback.
It was a new infrastructure for which he was looking, a fresh environment with new people and new coaches that would help him thrive. Clark and his parents looked at a few Columbus-area schools and a few others in Northeast Ohio before landing on Hoban.
The quarterback position was open and there was plenty of talent around him. And it was a college prep school -- a place where Clark could be another student who wears a school uniform -- so it was even better.
Now Hoban is off to a 7-0 start, it's one of the best teams in Ohio, and Clark has already thrown more touchdowns than he did all of last season. He looks like a quarterback who deserves the nickname, "The Prototype."
"I do think (about the Ohio State expectations), but now I really feel confident I can meet those expectations," Clark said. "The work I've put in, the film work, everything, it's so different from last year. I understand how to win, to be (7-0) as we are."
It helps that Clark is playing with better players. In the backfield, Hoban has running back Todd Sibley, who is also committed to the Buckeyes. Out wide, Clark is throwing it to Jonah Morris, a Michigan State committment. That allows him to make plays like the one below from Friday's 49-0 win at Lake Catholic.
"I think the biggest thing is that he's relaxed," Hoban coach Tim Tyrrell, a former longtime assistant under Jim Tressel at Youngstown State. "I'm never going to ask him to win a game. It's just relax. Just play quarterback and know you're good enough, even on a bad day, to be a great quarterback. He's just becoming a more mature quarterback. He's really coming into his own."
Sounds a lot like what Ohio State is going to expect from Clark, a 6-foot-4, 223-pound prospect who is rated the No. 12 pro-style quarterback in the 2017 recruiting class in 247Sports' composite rankings.
Urban Meyer's goal is to build a team around the quarterback -- see what Cardale Jones and J.T. Barrett did last year -- and that's exactly what Hoban is teaching Clark to do now. It's a learning process.
"He's as good as anyone I've coached," said Tyrrell, who coached Auburn quarterback Sean White in high school. "He has a lot of stuff to work on — he's only a junior — but the sky's the limit for him, just like when Sean was playing for me. Those types of quarterbacks that are tops in the country and everything. He has the ability, and he's doing exactly what he needs to at this point to get to that level."
But Danny Clark ruined what would have otherwise been a tranquil moment by sticking his head out the window of his second-story art class, pointing to the entrance and yelling, "I'll meet you down there."
Clark wasn't concerned about the 20 minutes left in art. In his head, he was on his way down.
What's the big deal? Clark is the starting quarterback for undefeated Hoban, he's Ohio State's quarterback of the future and he already took his big math test earlier that day.
But by the time Clark made it down to the athletics office, 30 minutes passed.
At Hoban, as Clark realizes now, there's no leaving art class early, even if it's 10 minutes, to speak to a reporter.
"Whether it's your final exam in math or an art project," Clark told Northeast Ohio Media Group last week, "every single thing has to be taken as serious as can be." You have to understand where Clark came from. It'll give you a better grasp of where he's going, and perhaps why, at a new school, he's finally having the season you'd expect from a quarterback who is going to Ohio State.
This is Clark's first year at Hoban, a college prep school. The year before, he was the hot-shot quarterback for the football-crazed Massillon Tigers. He was 15-years-old, but a local celebrity in town. When walked around the main drag of Massillon, cars yelled at him out the
window to throw touchdowns. Clark's
picture used to hang behind the bar at
local watering holes. There were shots
named after him. It's insane.
So imagine what last year must have been like for him, to be a sophomore who was already committed to Ohio State for a year, but the leader of a team that was losing while he was failing to put up impressive numbers.
In Massillon, that's not tolerated. Add into the equation that he's going to Ohio State, and there's a whole other level of pressure.
"That's why at the end of (last year) I was like, 'Man, we have to figure something out. We have to get a fresh start,' " Clark said. "And with Ohio State, there's a lot of quarterbacks out there. I know Ohio State is not going to hold onto some kid who had one good freshman year." Don't take that as Clark running away from the pressure of high school fame. Because if he couldn't handle pressure in Massillon, he doesn't have any idea what's waiting for him as a potential Ohio State quarterback.
It was a new infrastructure for which he was looking, a fresh environment with new people and new coaches that would help him thrive. Clark and his parents looked at a few Columbus-area schools and a few others in Northeast Ohio before landing on Hoban.
The quarterback position was open and there was plenty of talent around him. And it was a college prep school -- a place where Clark could be another student who wears a school uniform -- so it was even better.
Now Hoban is off to a 7-0 start, it's one of the best teams in Ohio, and Clark has already thrown more touchdowns than he did all of last season. He looks like a quarterback who deserves the nickname, "The Prototype."
"I do think (about the Ohio State expectations), but now I really feel confident I can meet those expectations," Clark said. "The work I've put in, the film work, everything, it's so different from last year. I understand how to win, to be (7-0) as we are."
It helps that Clark is playing with better players. In the backfield, Hoban has running back Todd Sibley, who is also committed to the Buckeyes. Out wide, Clark is throwing it to Jonah Morris, a Michigan State committment. That allows him to make plays like the one below from Friday's 49-0 win at Lake Catholic.
"I think the biggest thing is that he's relaxed," Hoban coach Tim Tyrrell, a former longtime assistant under Jim Tressel at Youngstown State. "I'm never going to ask him to win a game. It's just relax. Just play quarterback and know you're good enough, even on a bad day, to be a great quarterback. He's just becoming a more mature quarterback. He's really coming into his own."
Sounds a lot like what Ohio State is going to expect from Clark, a 6-foot-4, 223-pound prospect who is rated the No. 12 pro-style quarterback in the 2017 recruiting class in 247Sports' composite rankings.
Urban Meyer's goal is to build a team around the quarterback -- see what Cardale Jones and J.T. Barrett did last year -- and that's exactly what Hoban is teaching Clark to do now. It's a learning process.
"He's as good as anyone I've coached," said Tyrrell, who coached Auburn quarterback Sean White in high school. "He has a lot of stuff to work on — he's only a junior — but the sky's the limit for him, just like when Sean was playing for me. Those types of quarterbacks that are tops in the country and everything. He has the ability, and he's doing exactly what he needs to at this point to get to that level."
Goat poster
KANG LIFE
QuarterCenturyLegend
Stoopid Life
A lot of parents push for their kids and push their kids to excel in a particular sport, but I can't recall the extreme measures Clark's father has put his sons in such position. He was literally born to be a QB, and now that he is at Hoban, it seems as if he is at peace with himself and destiny. I love the guy. Just a great kid
Maybe we can trade Cardale for Justin Gilbert
Justin's unconfident ass would welcome the step back to college with open arms
:scusthh:
Good read man. This kid is gonna be a good one. Glad he is with the good guys. Already got that Block O tat
QuarterCenturyLegend
Stoopid Life
"Through six games, McMillan with 62 tackles (vs. four or five missed tackles, he said) leads the Buckeyes and the Big Ten and ranks fifth in the nation. If he plays 14 games (regular season, Big Ten Championship and at least one postseason game), he's on pace for the most tackles in an OSU season since Chris Spielman made 156 in 1987."
The Indiana game he didn't play the 4th and had still had like 15 tackles"Through six games, McMillan with 62 tackles (vs. four or five missed tackles, he said) leads the Buckeyes and the Big Ten and ranks fifth in the nation. If he plays 14 games (regular season, Big Ten Championship and at least one postseason game), he's on pace for the most tackles in an OSU season since Chris Spielman made 156 in 1987."
