No John Cooper? No problem for Ohio State recruit Redgie Arden.

Thursday, January 11, 2001

No John Cooper? No problem for Ohio State recruit Redgie Arden.

The firing of Cooper as the Buckeyes head football coach has some recruits looking at other options while others plan to honor their commitment.

Arden, the Ironton Fighting Tigers senior linebacker and Associated Press Division IV Co-Defensive Player of the Year, is one of the recruits who plans to attend Ohio State regardless of the coaching selection.

A meeting with assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Bill Conley helped ease the strains.

"I’ve always wanted to play for Ohio State. I don’t think it’s going to matter who the coach is. I’m sure they’ll pick a good coach," Arden said. "I went up there and talked to coach Conley and told him I still wanted to come."

Cooper’s 13-year tenure at Ohio State ended the day after the Buckeyes lost 24-7 to unranked South Carolina in the Outback Bowl.

Arden wasn’t too surprised.

"I was surprised they did it the next day, but it didn’t surprise after I saw the way they played," Arden said. "I was disappointed to see coach Cooper fired."

The 6-foot-6, 235-pound Arden helped lead Ironton to a 10-2 record this past season and a berth in the Division IV Region 15 championship. Ironton lost 10-7 on a last-second field goal to Licking Valley in a game that saw the Fighting Tigers lose three fumbles deep in Licking Valley territory.

Arden’s prowess on the field earned him the Ohio Defensive Player of the Year in Ohio in the internet voting by Fanpolls.com

"I really didn’t know anything about the voting or the award, but it’s kind of nice to be picked as the player of the year," Arden said.