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Ohio State Football: Interview with Buckeye legend Andy Katzenmoyer

By Steven Koesterman

20 Sep 1997: Linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer of the Ohio State Buckeyes in action against the Arizona Wildcats during a game at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. Ohio State defeated Arizona 28-20. Mandatory Credit: Rick Stewart /Allsport
20 Sep 1997: Linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer of the Ohio State Buckeyes in action against the Arizona Wildcats during a game at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. Ohio State defeated Arizona 28-20. Mandatory Credit: Rick Stewart /Allsport /
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CLEVELAND, OH – OCTOBER 3: Linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer #59 of the New England Patriots runs in pursuit against the Cleveland Browns at Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio on October 3, 1999. The Patriots defeated the Browns 19-7. (Photo by Joseph Patronite/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH – OCTOBER 3: Linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer #59 of the New England Patriots runs in pursuit against the Cleveland Browns at Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio on October 3, 1999. The Patriots defeated the Browns 19-7. (Photo by Joseph Patronite/Getty Images) /

Scarlet & Game: What was in like playing in the Patriots organization and playing under Coach Belichick?

Andy: “It was pretty cool during the window that I came in to. New England really wasn’t on my radar as far as a team that I would have a chance to get drafted to just through talking with my agent and different draft projections.

When I got there, there were guys that were still held over from the Bill Parcells era. He was shortly removed from there. There was kind of that feel with how things were with him. I got drafted by Pete Carroll and my linebacker coach was Bo Pelini. There were lots of connections. Pete was the secondary coach for Ohio State in 1979 under Earl Bruce. Bo played at Ohio State.

To see both Pete and Bo have success in their careers was cool to see. They were in New England for a year and then the whole staff got let go. To see Pete go to USC then from USC to Seattle. To see his success, knowing his style from being under his coaching tutelage. Then to see Bo Pelini go from New England to eventually the head coach of Nebraska and now the defensive coordinator at LSU was very cool.

Just to see their styles and what they went on to achieve in their careers was great to see. At that time, it didn’t work in New England for whatever reason but to see them be successful was cool.

And it was cool to be in New England at the starting point of where that organization is now with Belichick and to see all the players to come in and come out. But, really it’s been a consistent handful of guys and their leadership to know that there are different styles of coaching, administrative and player personnel. To see it all gel the way it did in New England, its been cool for me to look back and say that I was a small part of that success.

There is definitely a business feel to playing in the professionals. More so for me than playing in college even though college is a big business. That first year under Belichick. I mean front office staff, players, administrative people, trainers, coaches and everyone was under the radar and felt the pressure. He (Belichick) needed to figure out what was working, what didn’t work, who was going to be a good fit. There were guys who were very talented but they didn’t mesh well to what he wanted to do and those guys went on to fit in well with other NFL organizations.

The nice thing is that there are only 32 teams in the NFL and you just have to do your job. If your job doesn’t fit the goals or style of a certain team, there are always 31 other teams that if you can play, you can find a way to play.”

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