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Why is this news?: Recap of the Urban Meyer Call-In show, A.J. Hawk gives a glimpse inside his bye week

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Former Buckeye A.J. Hawk talked about how he has spent his bye week
Former Buckeye A.J. Hawk talked about how he has spent his bye week
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Coming off the tough win by the Buckeyes over Penn State in Happy Valley on Saturday night, there was plenty of items that head coach Urban Meyer hit during his weekly call-in show on Thursday afternoon. Meyer started off by saying the "gut-check win" by the Buckeyes was due to the leadership seminars during the offseason to help with adversity. Ohio State might have to get used to the "white-out" at Penn State, since when Meyer joked with Penn State head coach James Franklin about not always having Ohio State as their "white-out" game, Franklin said it would be. Not something that Meyer wanted to hear after he said that Penn State's crowd was in the top-three of loudest he has ever been in.

As the Buckeyes turn their attention to Illinois this week, Meyer said that backup running back Bri'onte Dunn wouldn't play this week due to a hamstring injury, but hoped he would play next week. Meyer expects Illinois to blitz more than they've shown on film, because every team has been blitzing the Buckeyes more. Praise was given to linebackers Joshua Perry and Darron Lee on their development and performance so far this season. Meyer said that freshman Sam Hubbard has the talent to play as a freshman, but will probably be redshirted.

"At the end of the day, you've got to have your nine assistants and the entire team aligned in such a way that there's a common belief in your culture and the core values of your program. I think (Meyer) does that better than anybody I've ever been around."

Tom Herman, Ohio State co-offensive coordinator

If you've been living under a rock and haven't noticed, the Urban Meyer coaching tree has had quite a great deal of success lately. There might be even more branches coming to the coaching tree coming soon as in the next month numerous jobs around the country will open up. Currently a branch on Meyer's coaching tree is heading the number one team in the country. Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen was one of six Meyer assistants that departed for head coaching jobs during a two-year span while at Florida. One of the reasons that Ohio State co-defensive coordinator Chris Ash came to Columbus was for the chance to work under Meyer, which he felt will help his goal of being a head coach someday.

Already there are head coaching openings at SMU and Kansas, while there are a number of other jobs projected to open up after the season ends. At SMU a popular name to fill the vacancy is Ohio State co-offensive coordinator Tom Herman. Meanwhile, at Kansas a name to keep an eye on the grab the head coaching position is Ed Warinner, who was a finalist to be named Army head coach last season. While it is tough to lose assistant coaches, if there are schools out there that consistently are looking to hire those coaches under you, it just means that Meyer is doing something right.

I thought, 'Hey, this will be a fun thing to do for a few years, then I'll get out in the real world and get a real job.' Eighteen years later, here I am."

Tim Adams, Ohio State men's hockey equipment manager

Little did Tim Adams know that when he was asked on New Year's Eve 1997 to serve as temporary equipment manager for a road series against for Michigan for the Ohio State men's hockey team that it would lead to something that he would still be doing nearly 18 years later. The change might have been just what the Buckeyes needed, as after the calendar turned to 1998 the team went 18-3-1 on the way to their only Frozen Four appearance in school history. While Ohio State men's hockey is now on their third head coach since Adams took over the equipment manager duties, he is the constant because of his passion not only for the game, but also for the program.

Skate sharpening and repair are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of Adams' duties as equipment manager. He also has learned how to operate a budget and has to order custom equipment. Not only do hockey players have to worry about their skates, but also they need proper padding, helmets, and sticks. Add in the extra equipment that goalies need and Adams has plenty to keep busy. On game days at home, Adams is not only responsible for the Ohio State team laundry, but also the visiting team, which can lead to him logging shifts from eight in the morning to sometimes 12:30 at night on Friday nights. Funny how a job that was only thought to be short-term can turn into a career.

"The bye week always gets you reenergized for the second half of the season. Entering the bye off a bad loss makes guys want to get back out on the field even more, to right the wrongs we recently had."

- A.J. Hawk

Ever wondered how former Ohio State linebacker A.J. Hawk spends his bye week? This week he wrote a column for The MMQB which gave fans a little bit of an insight into how he has spent his week off coming off Green Bay's tough Sunday night loss to the New Orleans Saints. While the Packers had a brief workout on Monday afternoon following the Sunday night game, Hawk was back in his Dublin, Ohio home by Monday night. Hawk took little time off from his normal routine, pushing through a heavy squat workout on Tuesday in the gym he built in his basement.

One of the best parts of the bye week for Hawk is the time he gets to spend with his two kids. Not only does the linebacker gets to spend the week eating breakfast with his kids, but being that this is Halloween week he has gotten to carve pumpkins with them, along with taking them trick-or-treating on Thursday. Once the kids go to sleep, Hawk goes back to work in his preparation for the Bears, who the Packers play when they return from their bye week. With the Packers struggling against the run this year, Hawk is looking for anything on film that might help himself and his team improve over the second half of the season. To close out his bye week, Hawk will be attending a wedding on Saturday before heading back to work to ramp up preparation for the Bears on Monday.

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