Coaches, Targets Debate Terrelle Pryor

Ohio State Coach Jim Tressel: “From the film grade standpoint, he probably had less minus plays than he did in the past couple weeks. Now, that's the good news. Here's the bad news: The minuses that we had were those triple minuses. No one has a disdain for turnovers any more than Terrelle. He hasn't been perfect in practice, but he's come along in practice. He hasn't been perfect in games, but he's come along in games. Now, did we have three or four moments that were impactful? There's no question about it.”

Jeannette High School Coach Ray Reitz: “They need Terrelle to run more. They've put the reins on him and they need to let him go free. When I watch Terrelle play right now, I see a robot. All I know is they promised him that they would teach him a pro-style system with both a shotgun and under center. Jim Tressel is a great coach and he's been running his offense successfully for 30 years. But I'd like to see some zone-read plays where with one mistake [by the defense], he can be gone. With some zone-read plays, they wouldn't be able to take away all the outside runs because he'd be a threat to go between the tackles. He would be a great wide receiver or even a great linebacker. But that doesn't mean you should move him from quarterback. In fact, I don't think he'd agree to a move to wide receiver. Give him time to grow. Put the ball in his hands and if there is a breakdown let him run. It doesn't look to me like he's relaxed. It doesn't look like he has rhythm. It doesn't look like he's comfortable. There is no question that Rich Rodriguez's offense, for example, would be more apt to suit Terrelle's skills. But Ohio State sold him on the idea that they would prepare him for the NFL and that they don't run 'zone-read' in the NFL. Jim Tressel is a great coach. But I can tell you there is more to Terrelle Pryor than what we've been seeing.”

Ohio State wide receiver DeVier Posey: “From his first pass, [people said] he's really not that good. But I really feel that's kind of hard for a guy like that, you know what I mean? There's only one Tim Tebow in this world and I don't really know what people want from [Pryor]. He's going to get better. He really can't do much worse. I feel like he's going to get better, he's going to be a great player. It's going to happen in time. And I just feel like if people are patient, and he's patient [he'll be great]. ... He's not going to be great tomorrow. But if he works on it, eventually in a year or two, or even maybe by the end of this year, he'll be a great player.”

Ohio State wide receiver Dane Sanzenbacher: “I don't think there was ever really a point in the game where anybody on the offense was thinking we needed a change.”