Our Honor Defend

These are normally Monday features now, but, c’mon… it was a holiday yesterday. C’mon.

In this 17th installment of the second edition of this now 25-part series titled Better Know A Buckeye, I continue marching towards a conclusion to this series with the case of Adam Bellamy. Adam, a defensive tackle prospect from Aurora (OH) HS, is a wanderer — born in the United Kingdom and raised most of his formative years in Boston, Massachusetts. Yet, the recent Ohio immigrant had one of the shortest offer-to-commitment cases in the class. A camp offer in early June and purportedly neutral on the Ohio State-Michigan schism, Adam committed a day after receiving his offer. Below, I recap his recruitment and commitment very briefly. Unless you enjoy the inner workings of recruiting at Akron, Cincinnati, Boston College and Michigan State, you’d get bored very quickly. I know I did. Later, I discuss strengths and areas for improvement. I’m enamored with the possibility of a guy with such natural speed as Adam operating in the interior of our line. After mentioning miscellaneous things of minor importance, I conclude that Adam is better known. He is then put on the board, which is rapidly filling up.

Height: 6′5
Weight: 275lbs
40: 4.8
High School: Aurora HS; Aurora, Ohio

His Recruitment: Adam wasn’t a high profile recruit like a Terrelle Pryor or Michael Brewster. He hails from a part of the Ohio HS football landscape that is not very well regarded, though Michigan’s Heisman candidate went to a rival high school. He attended the All-American Combine in Texas his junior year, but he wasn’t at all the camps. In spite of these limitations, he put together an impressive offer sheet by the end of his junior year of high school. Akron, Miami (OH), Indiana and Cincinnati offered a few weeks after the combine, but offers from four MAC schools still essentially meant he was flying under the radar entering March. Michigan State extended an offer the first of March. Nerdwestern followed suit, but that was it for awhile as he focused on the baseball season. Before his commitment to Ohio State on the tenth of June, he had acquired offers from those aforementioned schools, Kansas, Vanderbilt, Ohio and Michigan. The Michigan offer was, by far, the biggest of the group.

Still, all eyes were on Columbus to see what the Buckeyes would do with respect to Adam. While still evaluating their options, and arguably having players like Tyrone Ezell (Pitt signee) and Corey Adams (Arizona State signee) ahead of Adam on their recruiting board, Adam was on the receiving end of legitimate interest. The Buckeyes invited Adam down for Junior Day for his first Buckeye experience, the first of the correspondence between the program and the future Buckeye. It was an exciting opportunity for the recent Ohio immigrant. In his few years in the Great State of Ohio, he had already identified Ohio State as a preferred school and the thought of playing for the Buckeyes as a “dream come true”. The visit didn’t disappoint. He enjoyed meeting the Tressel brothers, loved the Schottenstein Center crowd, and remarked how relaxed the staff was on the visit.

On that visit, the coaching staff (particularly Greg Gillum, recruiting assistant) explained, in detail, how they approach recruiting.  Unlike most other schools in the country, Ohio State is very methodical with recruiting. They take their time and do an exhaustive evaluation of what’s available to them before they extend an offer. As such, it would’ve been unwise for Adam to have expected an offer from the Buckeyes on the visit.   Instead, this served as one of the first steps towards building a relationship between the two sides.   When Adam asked what he needed to do in order to be a recipient of an offer, the coaching staff was rather straightforward: he needed to show up to a summer camp. This is one of the hurdles that Ohio kids like Adam have to clear if they’re coming from an unheralded part of the Ohio HS football landscape. Glenville, Dublin Coffman, Saint Xavier, Colerain, Cardinal Mooney and others carry with them instant credibility; Aurora HS does not. When it comes to these unknown commodities, the coaching staff needs to see them perform in person and under their watch. Adam obliged, planning to attend a summer football camp over the weekend of June 7th-8th.

He must have impressed, because he was notified of his scholarship offer immediately after the camp festivities. It was the scholarship offer for which he had waited through 2008. He had a visit with Michigan tentatively scheduled for that Friday, but the Buckeyes were at the top of his list and everyone knew that he wanted to make a decision shortly.

His Commitment: “Shortly” here turned out to be 24 hours. It took just a day for Adam to jump on the propsect of being a Buckeye. He called Jim Tressel that Tuesday and informed him of his decision. The 17th commitment in the 2009 class, Adam is the third future Buckeye defensive linemen in the class, joining Melvin Fellows’ Safari Planet and John Simon. In fact, John Simon sent Adam a message upon news of the verbal commitment.

“(Monday) Johnny Simon was texting me,” he said, referring to the five-star defensive tackle from Youngstown (Ohio) Cardinal Mooney. “From day one of this whole recruiting process and even before then I knew who he was and I thought he was a beast. (Monday) he was texting me saying, ‘Congratulations, I’m pumped we’re going to be teammates, we’re bros now’ and stuff like that. It made me feel real good. It was pretty cool.”

If nothing else, it seems like Adam had made up his mind Monday night after talking it over with Mom and Dad.

In spite of only living in Ohio since his 8th grade year, Adam’s case resembles the patronizing cliche I’ve invoked here before: good Ohio kids aspire to play at Ohio State. This world traveler is no different:

“Mainly because they’re Ohio State,” he said when asked why he picked OSU. “They’re pretty much the big dogs of college football. But also I’ve been on a couple visits and I’ve seen (head) coach (Jim) Tressel and a lot of his coaching staff and I’ve gotten to compare them to other coaches and I really like just from the little bit I’ve experienced the vibe they gave off. That really attracted me.”

“Since I live in Ohio, I’ve been around and been a part of the Ohio State fan club and everything. Coming into this thing, I’m pretty sure Ohio State’s been my No. 1 pick. Six months ago I never even thought that I would have been anywhere close to an Ohio State offer. It’s just been crazy how everything has unfolded.”

Good Ohio kids aspire to play at Ohio State, and it doesn’t hurt that we have Jim Tressel as the face of the program.

Where He Excels: Adam is the perfect compliment to other tackles like Garrett Goebel and John Simon brought in recently by the Buckeyes.  Where Goebel and Simon provide the power in the trenches, Adam brings serious speed credentials with him.  That 4.8 40 is not a misprint; he is actually faster than Jaccobi McDaniel, though not an all-around product at the moment.

Two aspects best display Adam’s natural speed in his 275lb frame.  First, he is pretty explosive off the ball.  If he anticipates the snap on a given play, he’s almost unblockable.  Second, and most pronounced, his downhill speed can be outright frightening.  There’s more than a few plays in his highlight reel where there’s definitely that “oh [expletive deleted]!” moment for a quarterback.  He obviously won’t outrun a skillplayer on a straight line at the college level, but if said skillplayer needs to plant, change direction, or move laterally in the backfield to extend a play, Adam can and will close in for the kill.  It’s a gift that some kids like Adam and Jake Stoneburner have; very few of us can be that big and be that naturally fast.

Here’s the intriguing thing: According to his high school teammate and BuckeyePlanet poster, he could be much faster.

As far as his speed goes, he can definitly run and has natural speed for a big kid, but the scary thing is he can be faster. His running style is kind of jerky and unnatural and all over the place. I think with some more form running coaching, he could get down to a high 4.7.

I have some reservations (more accurately nascent reservations that are now morbid curiosities) about Eric Lichter as a strength and conditioning coach, but proper movement is something I know he works on with the football team.  Adam might actually get better in this regard.

I wonder how much hockey has helped him here.  Adam played extensively in his youth and continues to play as a hobby.  Unlike basketball and wrestling, I’ve not seen, read, or been able to infer how excelling at hockey translates to excelling at football.  If anything, Adam’s footwork may have benefitted for it.  You have to have firm control of your feet to play hockey, and Adam displays some of that in football.  He moves very well laterally and has a noticeable burst on his change of direction.

It wouldn’t be a Tressel recruit if you didn’t hear rave reviews about Adam’s character.  His head coach described him as a “tenacious football player. He’s a gentleman off the field but he’s just a hard-nosed kid on the field.”  By all accounts, he’s a likeable, good-natured kid and that should translate to intangible aspects like “coachability”.

Must Work On: The most obvious area for improvement is strength, which Adam freely admits.  Upper body strength is something that needs the most attention because of the obvious ramifications for performance on the defensive line.  Unlike a guy like Nathan Williams (coming from Miami Trace), Adam displays a great ability to club and shed, but is relatively weak at making good first contact.  Absent the upper body strength to make a good first contact, he’s often stood up.  If stuck chest to chest, Adam could be done for the play at the college level.  Adam, a defensive end for Aurora, ran into this problem a lot on his inside moves and it will need to be addressed as he transitions to a true defensive tackle in Ohio State’s 4-3 scheme.

Don’t misunderstand; Adam will eventually spring loose.  However, he needs to do so much faster at the college level or otherwise he will have outworked his man only after his man outworked him to set up the play.

The obvious caveat here is that he needs to get bigger and maintain or improve his speed.  If he loses his speed, he loses his natural advantage in the trenches.

Lastly, as he moves to the interior of the defensive line, he needs to better lineup on the ball.  He almost lines up with the linebackers and I’m not sure he’ll have the immediate presence to crowd the ball.

Redshirt? If Garrett Goebel redshirted, so will Adam. I can’t immediately think of someone who came to Ohio State as a defensive tackle prospect and has not redshirted¹. I think it’s just how Jim Heacock rolls.

Highlights:

Miscellany:

• Adam carries a ~3.4 GPA and was a 3 sport athlete in high school (football, baseball, hockey). Mom and Dad made sure he was a better student than he was an athlete.  He was also enrolled in honors courses at least in the second half of his high school years.
• His HS team name is the Greenmen.  It’s apropos of nothing here, but I’m a sucker for cool, unique HS team names.
• As mentioned first in this feature, he is a bit of a wanderer. He was born in Scotland, lived his first five years in the United Kingdom, then relocated to Boston for the next several years, and moved to Ohio to start 8th grade.
• I’m not sure if hockey was his focus sport as a youth (it wasn’t in high school), but it would make sense given his roots in Boston. He continues to play hockey as a hobby.
• He was a first baseman for his HS team.
• Tim May filled in some of the backstory behind the events precipitating him learning of his offer from Ohio State on June 9th.
• While remarking how relaxed the coaching staff at Ohio State was, he also indicated that the coaching staff at Cincinnati was very high-pressure and seemingly kept fishing for a verbal commitment on his visit immediately preceding Ohio State’s Junior Day.
• Kansas offered him a scholarship thinking of him as a future offensive lineman. This topic — offense or defense — came up very early into his recruitment. If he had played on the offensive line, he’s likely a guard. He’s better equipped for defense, though.
• Adam will play for the Ohio squad in the Big 33 game. He joins future Buckeyes Marcus Hall, Corey Linsley, Sam Longo, Melvin Fellows’ Safari Planet, Chris Fields, and Jonathan Newsome.
• Adam definitely gave love to the parents on Signing Day:

“I want to thank my mom and dad for feeding me for 18 years and for taking me to all my sporting events,” Bellamy said. “And for buying me all the equipment I need. They’ve given me all the support and love that, unfortunately, some kids don’t get. It’s definitely an advantage.”

• Adam concluded his senior season of football with a state championship. Aurora won the D-III crown after beating Eastmoor Academy 21-10. That high school should sound familiar; it’s where Archie Griffin and recent Buckeye convert Mike Boren attended.  If you’ve been following this features, that high school should ring another bell.   Eastmoor beat Storm Klein’s Licking Valley Panthers in the semis to advance to the title game.
• Pre-compiled stats, courtesy of Bucknuts:

* Vital Statistics: Bellamy helped lead Aurora to a 13-2 record and the Division III state championship, winning the title with a 21-10 win over Eastmoor Academy. He was a standout on both the offensive and defensive lines for Aurora. He finished his senior season with 54 solo tackles, 36 assists, five sacks, 15 tackles-for-loss and 14 quarterback hurries. Bellamy was a Division III first-team All-Ohio pick and was also a first-team selection on the ONN/Ohio High All-Ohio team. As a junior, he had 46 tackles and six sacks. Bellamy is set to play for the Ohio squad in the Big 33 Football Classic in June.

* Rankings: He is rated as the No. 13 overall senior prospect in Ohio, according to Ohio High magazine. Also rated as the No. 14 overall prospect in the state, according to The Ohio Football Recruiting News. Bellamy is rated as the nation’s No. 35 defensive tackle prospect by ESPN.com. SuperPrep ranks Bellamy as the 46th-best prospect in the Midwest.

I think we can consider Adam better known.

…and the board:

Class of 2009
Name	Position	Hometown	Better Known?	Name	Position	Hometown	Better Known?
CJ Barnett	DB	Clayton, OH	02.20	Marcus Hall	OL	Glenville, OH
Dorian Bell	LB	Monroeville, PA	04.10	Adam Homan	FB	Coldwater, OH	01.29
Adam Bellamy	DT	Aurora, OH	05.26	Carlos Hyde	RB	Naples, FL
Jaamal Berry	RB	Miami, FL		James Jackson	WR	Grand Ledge, TSUN	03.05
Zach Boren	FB	Pickerington, OH	01.22	Storm Klein	LB	Nerk, Ahia	02.02
Corey Brown	WR/DB	Monroeville, PA		Corey Linsley	OL	Youngstown, OH	05.11
Duron Carter	WR	Ft. Lauderdale, FL		Sam Longo	OL	Belbrook, OH
Dominic Clarke	DB	Frederick MD	02.11	Jack Mewhort	OL	Toledo, OH	02.05
Melvin Fellows’ Safari Planet	DE	Garfield Heights, OH	04.24	Jonathan Newsome	LB/DE	Glenville, OH
Chris Fields	WR	Painesville, OH	04.02	John Simon	DE	Youngstown, OH	03.26
Reid Fragel	TE	Grosse Pointe, TSUN	05.18	Jordan Whiting	LB	Louisville, KY	03.12
Kenny Guiton	QB	Aldine, TX		Jamie Wood	DB	Pickerington, OH	02.26
Jordan Hall	ATH	Jeannette, PA	04.20

1. addendum: Cameron Heyward.  Forgot about him for the moment because he moved around as a sophomore. [↩]