So am intriguing question, with the redshirt rules, is the California kid going to see some game action to let the coaches see what they have on their hands. From what I have heard he has some game.
Who knows? Might make some sense to at least get him out there in garbage time. But what a crazy look to play both Spencer and Dru and then to get Costello reps in up to four games when you didnât use the redshirt rule at all last year.
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At bare minimum play him against mcneese
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From what Lunt said in his offensive podcast his play left something to be desired during the practices they attended. Not that itâs everything, but heâs also a slim 180lbs right now I believe. He doesnt appear to be D1 ready.
This concept doesnât fit the one year of data we have to pull from when it comes to the new redshirt rule. Iâm gonna say not a chance unless both get injured.
This may be a little too inside baseball for you guys, but figured Iâd share this peek behind the curtain: Neither Spencer Sanders nor Dru Brown will be available to talk with the media for the rest of fall camp, per an OSU spokesman.
The two arrived on campus more than a year ago and have spoken to the media only once, which was at this yearâs mandatory media day. OSU keeping them both locked down and away from the spotlight. Lack of access for PFB is frustrating, obviously, and even by Gundyâs standards this is pretty extreme.
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Has something similar to this happened before? I vaguely remember that they shut down media access last year⌠maybe after the loss in Manhattan.
Its an interesting move. My first thought is that it means someone has unofficially won the starting job. But then I start to wonder if it is not more to keep them from getting distracted. I mean in all honesty what is a media person going to ask them that gives us an answer we desire? It is not like they are going to say the won or lost the job so maybe its just a safety measure by Gundy to prevent them from getting bombarded with questions they cant answer.
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Long answer to your simple question, so apologies âŚ
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Gundy has a one-year media rule for newcomers. If youâre a freshman or a first-timer, you canât talk to media until youâve been on campus a year.
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Theyâve never âshut downâ media access entirely, but last year, when Jalen McCleskey transferred, OSUâs athletics staff directed the media specifically to NOT ask questions about the subject or availability would be eliminated entirely. (Free press, spree press, I guess.) Gundy got crushed for it.
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I donât think this specific case has happened before. Certainly limiting access has happened, but straight up disallowing specific players to talk at media is new.
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My counter would be that, sure, we might not learn much from meeting with them. But OSU simply not opening players to the media â specifically the two everyone wants to hear from â is very North Korea-ish. Whatâs the point of the free press if we canât get access? (Also, we want to know more than just about who looked good in a fall practice. We want to tell stories. But because of this, we literally donât know who these players are. It creates tension, etc. See: Russell Westbrook and Berry Tramel.)
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Last year the only heavy restriction I remember was Gundy forbidding questions about McCleskeyâs departure.
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Iâll respect that opinion. I agree it is very North Koreaish and just is a bad look in general.
My next question related to this - how do you think Brown and Sanders feel about not being able to talk to the media?
Also side note - I am fascinated/scared to see what Dru Brown says openly after the season about everything. Especially if he loses the job. (PFB better get that interview!)
Does this come as a surprise, though? Gundy has, letâs be honest, a fairly dismissive view of the media at the best of times and outright antagonistic relationship at the worst (read: after K-State, McCleskeyâs leaving). Iâm not saying he doesnât have his reasons but, man, after last seasonâs failure of a year, his admitting he didnât do his job last year, and this QB controversy, you would think he would be desirous of a LITTLE good press by letting them talk at least.
Can I just say I really like your handle? 
Makes me wonder if theyâll make it happen against Oregon State. 
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He is generally overprotective of his players. It comes off very negatively when others have a job it inhibits, but I get it. That being said he should probably give them a little more slack and treat them like theyâre 20, and not 14.
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I get protectiveness and, heck, I even get not letting the media talk to first-year players. You want to give them time to adjust. Itâs the fact that he doesnât seem to have any respect for how the game works these days that bothers me (e.g. social media = fart noise, social media = ignore in recruiting, media = probably the enemy except for RA). He can play the game in some respects - just look at the mullet - but disregards entirely some fundamental components that he NEEDS to use so that our program can take that next step. Not letting the two players involved in the most interesting storyline for this new team speak to the media at all is emblematic of that, I think.
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More a bad look than anything, probably. But from our vantage point, itâs toeing the line with too many restrictions.
As for how Brown and Sanders feel, I suspect they must be fine with it. (I would ask them that, butâŚ
) But if I were a 20-year-old college student being told to stay away from the limelight as a quarterback, Iâd probably be a little irked. These kids are brands now, so theyâre missing out on opportunities to grow their brand and rep.
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If we were to isolate it to the âwhich QBâ headline I get the off-the-beaten-path idea from a reporter asking more about them as people for offseason personal stories, but I bet 95% of the questions thrown at them if asked today have been generally asked and answered in the past. If I were in Gundyâs head trying to justify my action Iâd say nothing substantial will likely come from them being asked the same questions, which theyâd have already been lightly coached on how to answer (the same answers as before).
I get your point and I agree. It just seems like this kind of combativeness with the media is not an exception - it is the rule. That is what I see as a larger issue.