Video: Ohio State Debuts “Gladiator” “Circle Drill” At Spring Game

Showing why he is considered one of the most creative minds in the college football coaching business, Coach Urban Meyer of Ohio State introduced a drill today in front of an Ohio State spring game crowd that can only be described as a throwback to Roman Gladiator days..

No, these gladiators didn’t have or wield swords, but had a weapon considered just as dangerous, a hardened football helmet moving directly towards you at close impact. The cracking sounds of heads banging in this quick 3-5 second drill was what fans came to see.  Action….. Hard Hits… It’s football at the shoe, and a Star Is Reborn… Who is that star? Urban Meyer

There you are, an Ohio State football player, being called out in the biggest Roman Coliseum of em’ all. Ohio Stadium. In front of 80,000 screaming fans, Urban Meyer calls your name. You’re in the center of the “O”, right in the middle of the field. Your goal, not to go to your knees, or be knocked out of the “O”.. This is high stakes “ego” drama and the winner has something forever to tell the grandkids… Even the loser wins in this event, simply because you where there..

Size does not guarantee victory in this battle, as a bigger player will have a delicate dance of not dropping to their knees and losing to the smaller, quicker, athlete. The whistle blows and the impact can be heard throughout the stadium.. Just as quickly, the whistle blows and the battle over. Just as suredly a slash of the sword can be lethal in the game of “Gladiator”, so too, can a Buckeye helmet to the brain, in this game of ego…  The only thing that can make this galactic battle even more appealing would be to add high definition audio to the mix.. Right there on the brand new 120ft. screen due in Ohio Stadium in time for the fall games.

I can see the producers of ESPN Sports Science licking their chops right now on this one, as one can imagine a Sports Center quicktake as to the force expended as a result of the impact of the players in this drill. This is a drill that the sports pundits will debate to the end of days, as to its contribution to the greater good, but for the fans and the players, this is what football is all about. Meyer will be considered a genius, right up until someone gets injured or the school gets sued by one of the players. Remember, this is America, the home of “frivilous” lawsuits.

But on this day, an overcast Spring Saturday afternoon, at Ohio Stadium, in front of over 80,000 fans, in the rain, in front of countless recruits, in front of an espn audience, in front of all the other coaching legends waiting to bring him down a notch, Urban Meyer was back on top again….