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Ohio State Quarterback Battle: How Will The Buckeyes Decide On A Starter? · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to Buckeyes tomorrow morning for Monday, March seventeenth, time
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  Speaker 1: your host Tom or the Texas game in one hundred
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  Speaker 1: and sixty six days the game against Michigan in two
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  Speaker 1: hundred and fifty seven days. If you're planning your next event,
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  Speaker 1: make it unforgettable with Grateful Griddle, Columbus's favorite food truck
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  Speaker 1: serving up smashburgers, gourmet sandwiches, and good vibes. Book care
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  Speaker 1: catering today a gratefulgriddleoh dot com. This is the official
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  Speaker 1: start of spring football at Ohio State. Buckeyes will kick
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  Speaker 1: that off with the practice Monday morning at the Woody
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  Speaker 1: Hayes Athletic Center. We will be there for that and
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  Speaker 1: then have interviews after practice, probably try and have a
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  Speaker 1: live show for you as well. It's going to be
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  Speaker 1: a lot to talk about as the Buckeyes start springball
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  Speaker 1: twenty twenty five. We've been waiting quite a while for
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  Speaker 1: that finally here, so that definitely something to look forward to.
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  Speaker 1: So with that on deck, I have only one more
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  Speaker 1: show to do and before we start springball, and that
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  Speaker 1: means well, there is one more new coach that we
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  Speaker 1: need to let you hear from before we have actually
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  Speaker 1: start spring ball, and that is Billy Fessler. He's the
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  Speaker 1: new Ohio State quarterbacks coach this year. He's been on
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  Speaker 1: the staff before, but not someone we've really gotten to
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  Speaker 1: talk to before, and sort of a new face and
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  Speaker 1: a new voice for you guys, and I wanted to
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  Speaker 1: let you hear from him a little bit before springball
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  Speaker 1: officially kicked off. So here you go. Here's Billy Fessler,
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  Speaker 1: the quarterback quarterbacks coach for Ohio State. Last year he
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  Speaker 1: was working under Chip Kelly and Ryan Day. What did
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  Speaker 1: Billy Fesler learn and get out of all of that?
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  Speaker 2: You know, on a bunch of different levels.
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  Speaker 3: It was a really great opportunity, you know, going out
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  Speaker 3: to work for coach Kelly at UCA and then you
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  Speaker 3: know he made the decision to come here, and then
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  Speaker 3: you know, between him and Coach Day, just giving them
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  Speaker 3: the opportunity to come here and continue.
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  Speaker 2: To work with them.
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  Speaker 3: I had been lucky to work with Coach Day and
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  Speaker 3: the offensive staff here in the past, and to get
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  Speaker 3: the opportunity to be back in this building was so
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  Speaker 3: so critical to me.
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  Speaker 2: Just I feel like.
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  Speaker 3: It's a it's a special place and once you get
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  Speaker 3: a piece of it and you're in it and you feel,
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  Speaker 3: you know, what it's like to be part of the
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  Speaker 3: Woody every single day, to have the opportunity to come
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  Speaker 3: back as a no brainer and you're kind of always
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  Speaker 3: scratching a nitch and trying to get back to that position.
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  Speaker 3: So first off, just the opportunity to do that was
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  Speaker 3: was so awesome. And then you walk into that quarterback
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  Speaker 3: room and you know, the guys in the room, you know,
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  Speaker 3: it was a special group last year. You know, we're
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  Speaker 3: obviously kind of turning the leaf now and moving forward,
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  Speaker 3: but just to work with Will and to work with
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  Speaker 3: Devin and Lincoln and Julian you know, and Air when
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  Speaker 3: he was here, and you know, just across the board.
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  Speaker 3: You know, it was such a good group of guys.
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  Speaker 3: And I think that chemistry was a big reason of why,
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  Speaker 3: you know, we had the success down the stretch. You know,
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  Speaker 3: the opportunity to work with Will and to work with
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  Speaker 3: a guy like that that's a pro. And the way
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  Speaker 3: he approached the game and the way he approached it
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  Speaker 3: was such great detail, and he always wanted to know
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  Speaker 3: more and he was always trying to dive in and
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  Speaker 3: learn more.
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  Speaker 2: To me, it was you know, a big part of.
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  Speaker 3: Why he was able to go out and have so
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  Speaker 3: much success because of the way he prepared.
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  Speaker 2: So, just to answer your question, the opportunity.
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  Speaker 3: To continue to learn from Coach Day and to work
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  Speaker 3: with him, to the opportunity to learn from Coach Kelly
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  Speaker 3: and work with him, and and then work with a
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  Speaker 3: group of guys that I got to work with last
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  Speaker 3: year was it was a pretty special thing for me.
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  Speaker 1: The quarterback position is definitely gonna be one that people
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  Speaker 1: are watching very closely all spring. So is there any
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  Speaker 1: kind of a pecking order heading into the spring in
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  Speaker 1: terms of Julian Saying and Lincoln Keenholes and Tavan Saint Clair.
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  Speaker 1: Is there any kind of an order in Billy Fessler's
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  Speaker 1: mind heading into the spring?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah?
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  Speaker 3: No, no, we do not, to be honest with you,
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  Speaker 3: you know, Coach Day and I will sit down along
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  Speaker 3: with Coach Hartline and have those conversations. But the reality
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  Speaker 3: is is we're gonna let those guys compete, and we're
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  Speaker 3: gonna let those guys go have equal opportunities. We are
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  Speaker 3: we are really far away from the start of fall
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  Speaker 3: camp and getting into the season. So more than anything,
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  Speaker 3: I'm just excited to watch them compete. Excited to watch
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  Speaker 3: them grow. You know, last year, both Lincoln and Julian
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  Speaker 3: and then Tavian at the end of the year, had
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  Speaker 3: the opportunity to see what it looks like and to
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  Speaker 3: to watch Will and watch watch how we operated, to
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  Speaker 3: learn from him, and at the same time prepared to
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  Speaker 3: the level that you know, if something were to happen,
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  Speaker 3: they're ready to go in the game and go execute.
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  Speaker 3: So now to step into a role where they're competing
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  Speaker 3: for the job, you know, is is a little bit
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  Speaker 3: of a different deal. So I'm excited to see them
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  Speaker 3: compete more than anything.
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  Speaker 1: How about his initial impressions of those three guys, Lincoln, Keenholsts,
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  Speaker 1: Julian saying, tav and Saint Clair. What is Billy Festler
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  Speaker 1: seeing from those guys so far?
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  Speaker 2: You know, start with Lincoln.
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  Speaker 3: You know, a guy that's going to his third year here,
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  Speaker 3: and I think really like when you've been in an
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  Speaker 3: offense for two years already and you're going to that
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  Speaker 3: third year, You've got a really good feel of the scheme.
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  Speaker 2: You've got a better feel of.
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  Speaker 3: College defenses, and you know where our schemes are susceptible
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  Speaker 3: and where the issues lie and what we're trying to
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  Speaker 3: attack and so I think, you know, that's something that
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  Speaker 3: over time I can feel Lincoln getting a better and
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  Speaker 3: better feel for it. You know, Lincoln has definitely stepped
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  Speaker 3: up from a leadership perspective, and you could see the
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  Speaker 3: way that you know, he attacks workouts and you know,
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  Speaker 3: this winner is so big for all three of them,
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  Speaker 3: just really to set the standard and to understand the
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  Speaker 3: intangibles that playing quarterback is all about, right, because there's
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  Speaker 3: so much more than just picking up a football and
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  Speaker 3: throwing it when it comes to succeeding on Saturdays. So
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  Speaker 3: I've seen that growth from Lincoln and that's that's really exciting.
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  Speaker 3: As for Julian, you know, last year, going into the year,
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  Speaker 3: he was competing for a job and you know, end
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  Speaker 3: up not winning the job, and you know he could
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  Speaker 3: have turned it down and been bummed out and you know,
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  Speaker 3: not attacked it the right way. But I saw him
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  Speaker 3: continue to grow throughout the year. I saw him to
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  Speaker 3: learn from Will and and to get to a point
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  Speaker 3: this year where where now he can step up and
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  Speaker 3: be more of a vocal leader. And you know that's
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  Speaker 3: something that I've seen growth in him as well. You know,
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  Speaker 3: he's put on some weight, and he looks good and
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  Speaker 3: he's definitely attacked his time in the you know, the Winner,
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  Speaker 3: and so that's been awesome.
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  Speaker 2: And then Tavian comes in, and you know Tavian.
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  Speaker 3: Tavian's you know, really should still be in high school instead,
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  Speaker 3: he's you know, in my office all the time learning
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  Speaker 3: the offense. And when he's not with me, he's with
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  Speaker 3: coach Maker. He's not with coach Maker, I he's over
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  Speaker 3: there doing academics and sasso. So his days are pretty
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  Speaker 3: jam packed and it's definitely new for him. But his
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  Speaker 3: commitment to wanting to be great and wanting to be
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  Speaker 3: to the level where he can go out and compete
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  Speaker 3: in the spring has been really impressive.
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  Speaker 2: So I'm excited for all three of them.
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  Speaker 1: Billy Fessler was the assistant quarterbacks coach last year, so
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  Speaker 1: the now he takes one step forward on the coaching
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  Speaker 1: depth chart. So who is he going to be working
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  Speaker 1: with now staff wise as his assistant? And then who
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  Speaker 1: are some of the big influences in his career in
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  Speaker 1: terms of how he sees the game?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, right now, Colin Keanos in helping me.
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  Speaker 3: So Colin was working with me at Aker and he
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  Speaker 3: was a student assistant and he was really really impressive there.
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  Speaker 3: So he's going to come in and he's going to
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  Speaker 3: help out with some of the day to day stuff.
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  Speaker 3: And then you know, Coach Day and I have built
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  Speaker 3: a pretty good relationship where, you know, between my time
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  Speaker 3: here as a GA, where you know, I learned the
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  Speaker 3: game of football the way he sees it, and that
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  Speaker 3: was such a pivotal time in my career. You know,
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  Speaker 3: I was so blessed in college and then in my
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  Speaker 3: first couple you know, my first job there that I
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  Speaker 3: got to work with Joe Morehead, and you know, I
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  Speaker 3: learned so much football from that man, and I credit
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  Speaker 3: so much of my career to him to put me
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  Speaker 3: in the position, but then having the opportunity to okay him,
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  Speaker 3: maybe see you through little bit of a different lens,
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  Speaker 3: and to learn how Coach Day.
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  Speaker 2: Sees it was so big for me in my development.
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  Speaker 2: So that couple of years as a GA was awesome
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  Speaker 2: for me.
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  Speaker 3: And then last year to be able to sit in
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  Speaker 3: with him and really kind of see the game, you know,
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  Speaker 3: in a similar fashion. And I'm always going to continue
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  Speaker 3: to learn from him because he's just such a special coach.
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  Speaker 3: But to be able to see it, you know, in
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  Speaker 3: a similar way, and to continue to bounce thoughts off
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  Speaker 3: him to make sure that him and I are communicating
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  Speaker 3: it the same way. You know, Coach da will always
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  Speaker 3: be directly involved with the quarterbacks, and now Coach Hartline
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  Speaker 3: will as well.
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  Speaker 2: You know, as the.
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  Speaker 3: Offensive coordinator, I think as the guy in that chair,
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  Speaker 3: you have to have a relationship with the guy that's
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  Speaker 3: in the huddle.
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  Speaker 2: I think that's really important.
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  Speaker 3: So, you know, him and I have already big one
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  Speaker 3: conversations just about you know, how that's going to work out,
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  Speaker 3: how you know he's going to continue to see the
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  Speaker 3: game the same way that the quarterback does, and how
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  Speaker 3: he's going to communicate to them. Those those conversations already
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  Speaker 3: be so it'll it'll be it'll definitely be a combination
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  Speaker 3: of you know, us three.
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  Speaker 1: Billy Fessler is going to be a part of making
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  Speaker 1: that decision in terms of who's going to be the
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  Speaker 1: starting quarterback for Ohio State this fall. So when he's
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  Speaker 1: making those evaluations, what are the traits he's looking for
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  Speaker 1: in a quarterback?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, I think it comes in a couple
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  Speaker 3: different ways. You know, from a tangible perspective, you know,
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  Speaker 3: I think that you've got to be extremely accurate. I
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  Speaker 3: think you have to be able to make great decisions
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  Speaker 3: with the football and get the ball out on time.
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  Speaker 3: And I think that you have to be able to
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  Speaker 3: at least solve a problem with your feet. So you know,
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  Speaker 3: it's rare in college football that every protection is blocked
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  Speaker 3: up perfectly or or everything goes exact way that we
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  Speaker 3: drew it up on the whiteboard. So when things break down,
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  Speaker 3: you know the ability to to fix it with our legs.
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  Speaker 3: And then you know, as far as intangibles go, you know,
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  Speaker 3: I look at I look at you know, a guy
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  Speaker 3: like Will who had those intangibles about as well as
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  Speaker 3: I've ever seen. And that's just complete command and understanding
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  Speaker 3: of both the offense and the huddle. To know exactly
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  Speaker 3: what we're trying to do on every single play, know
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  Speaker 3: what we're trying to attack, Understand where the issues are
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  Speaker 3: and where they lie, and how you're going to combat
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  Speaker 3: those issues. To be able to understand you know when
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  Speaker 3: it's time to move on, throw the ball away and
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  Speaker 3: move on to the next play, and then also be
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  Speaker 3: mentally tough enough that when things don't go our way
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  Speaker 3: to be able to react the right way and move
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  Speaker 3: on to the next play.
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  Speaker 1: Well, those young quarterbacks are definitely gonna be one of
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  Speaker 1: the very hot topics today as we open that spring practice.
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  Speaker 1: Getting a chance to see the Buckeyes open spring ball
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  Speaker 1: inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. That'll be this morning.
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  Speaker 1: We'll have coverage, well video of all that kind of
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: stuff for you at YouTube dot com, slash Buckey Huddle
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  Speaker 1: and lots to talk about at buckeyehuddle dot com. That's
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: where Tony Kevin and I cover the team, Mark covers recruiting.
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: We got our whole team of ex's and those gurus
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: there as well all the Mike you Ust Murder football
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  Speaker 1: fan and all.
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  Speaker 2: At bucke Huddle dot com.
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  Speaker 1: That'll do it for today. Thank you guys all for
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  Speaker 1: joining us. Have a great day.
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  Speaker 2: We'll talk to you tomorrow.