The Wednesday Victory Bell
Welcome to your Hump Day Buckeye faithful! Oh how I love a day that us in the workforce are given off to blow things up in celebration of America. If it blows up, ends in a bang, snaps, sparkles, tastes like grilled perfection, or makes you say “here we go!” like our forefathers – then it’s definitely meant for today.
Despite the holiday, there is still a ton of Buckeye news and notes to discuss this morning, as the athletic administration welcomes and wishes the best to members of it’s staff. We also welcome a new coach, and have some more news on the class of 2014.
In celebration of our country’s 236th birthday today, we ring two bells. Despite being from the Empire, all the staff this morning give the Liberty Bell one hell of a thwack. Here’s to freedom and the pursuit of happiness (even if that means sitting with just socks and a headband on while writing non-stop pulsating content with one hand and sipping Busch Light ***cough Grant cough****).
For the sake of imagery, fireworks, Burgers, and Beans – Let’s Ring The Damn Bell.
2 For Class of ’14?
Urban Meyer doesn’t take holidays off. Well, at least not the days leading up to the holiday like 99% of bosses in this country. Buckeye Nation, it’s nothing new to say that our fearless leader is stealing the hearts of our nation’s best recruits.
In May, the Buckeyes offered Desert Mountain High School (Scottsdale Arizona) receiver Mark Andrews. At 6’6″, the junior to be projects most likely as “hybrid” tight end, that could find himself in receiver sets at the next level.
Now it looks like Andrews’ teammate, 2014 quarterback Kyle Allen, is itching to get the call to be the signal caller of the class. Via ESPN’s Brad Bourinval, Allen worked out at a recent Buckeye camp in June and was asked to participate in individual drills by the coaching staff.
Allen has yet to receive an offer from Ohio State, but Meyer has made it clear he has no plans in adding a quarterback this summer for the class of 2014. He instead plans to continue to evaluate over the next few months to pick the right recruit to target for the future.
Andrews holds offers from the likes of Arizona, Arizona State, UCLA, Oregon, and Boise State. Allen has offers from Arizona, Arizona State, UCLA, Boise State, Duke, Oklahoma State, and North Carolina.
Despite all the major offers, Allen could have a major interest in Ohio State. He has been quoted as saying he loves the tradition, coach Urban Meyer and a school with high academic standard.
Athletic Department Changes
First and foremost, congratulations to former Associate Athletic Director Pat Chun, who was recently named the Athletic Director of Florida Atlantic University. Chun worked for 15 years in the OSU athletic department, holding six different job titles. He is most known for his extended work on increasing fundraising. 
There is a lot of promise at FAU, despite going from a department that made of 100 million dollars profit a year to one that just makes 19 million. The Owls just recently built their own stadium and have hired former Youngstown State Penguin and Ohio State grad Carl Pelini to take over as head coach of the football program.
One of the first jobs for Chun will be finding a new home for the Owls, as they look to break away from the Sun Belt conference and into a conference that is more highly regarded.
Meanwhile, the Ohio State Athletic Department has welcomed back Jason Singleton, who will return as the associate director of compliance for education, enforcement and monitoring. Singleton played basketball at Ohio State from 1996-1999. The former Buckeye captain will return to his alma mater after serving as the assistant director of enforcement for the NCAA.
From the University’s press release:
Singleton’s duties at Ohio State will center on monitoring student-athlete activities and visiting campus and community establishments to ensure compliance with NCAA rules and state laws. He also will serve as a liaison with law enforcement agencies to develop positive relationships with student-athletes and the department of athletics.
Other duties include implementing and evaluating life skills workshops, working with at-risk student-athletes and developing programming to educate and councel student-athletes to avoid potential issues and assisting with community service initiatives.
New Coach on Campus
It’s about that time of the year where we see several changes across the sports spectrum when it comes to coaching. For Ohio State LaCrosse, adding Jamison Koesterer as an assistant coach seems like one of the better coaching moves of the summer.
A two time national champion and former volunteer coach at John Hopkins, Koesterer adds another great mind to Coach Nick Meyers’ staff.
“We are excited to welcome Jamison Koesterer to the Buckeye LaCrosse Family,” Myers said. “He brings a contagious energy and passion to compete with him to Columbus. I know he will hit the ground running and make an immediate impact on our program.”
The Buckeyes went 8-7 this season and 5-1 in conference play.
Final Thoughts:
Be safe out there this holiday and don’t do anything the gang on the Dark Side wouldn’t do. That should make this fourth of July rather interesting…..
