Ohio State senior Brian Rolle grew up wanting to play for Miami, so he'll be bringing the Hurricanes" style of confidence into Saturday's showdown at Ohio Stadium.
View full sizeOhio State linebacker Brian Rolle, one of nine players from Florida on Ohio State's roster, brings a hard-playing style to the defense.COLUMBUS, Ohio — His Ohio State teammates say they can tell Brian Rolle is from around Miami.
"You can kind of tell by his swagger," said fellow linebacker and captain Ross Homan, repeating the word used by many when talking about Rolle.
That's not just any swagger -- that's Hurricane swagger. While the University of Miami is looking to regain its footing as a college football power and hoping to use Saturday's game with Ohio State as a jumping off point, the Buckeyes' starting middle linebacker is a tribute to Miami's past.
Rolle grew up in Immokalee, Fla., two hours from Miami, born near the end of Miami's run of four national titles in a nine-year span between 1983 and 1991, but very invested in Miami's next national title in 2001 and the Hurricanes' national championship loss to Ohio State the following season.
"That team was the team," Rolle said of the Hurricanes' appeal in South Florida. "Where I was from, it was only Miami."
Rolle wore Hurricanes clothing to school and argued with his older brother, who was the only Florida fan he knew. And he was certain, absolutely certain, that he'd be a Hurricane one day.
"Growing up, I didn't look at anything else," Rolle said. "I was like, 'I'm going to be a Hurricane, no doubt.' "
He watched Miami safety Sean Taylor and wanted to play that way. He embraced the Hurricanes' attitude and wanted to handle himself that way on the field. He heard the stories of the Miami teams of a decade before and couldn't imagine anything better.
"They played with a swagger that was probably the best out of any team I've ever seen," Rolle said. "Those guys, how they celebrated how, they'd go out onto the field, they felt no team could beat them.
"I feel like if every team played like that, you'd have the best competition ever."
But there was competition to be a Hurricane, too, and ranked as the No. 34 recruit in the state of Florida in 2007, Rolle didn't make the cut for Miami.
"I was kind of hurt about it," Rolle said. "It was a bitter moment for me for a second."
He aimed his focus north, recruited by Iowa, Wisconsin and Ohio State, while finding football existed elsewhere, too. He'd been to a Miami-Florida State game before, but when he attended the 2006 Ohio State-Michigan game between the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country, "I was like, 'There is something bigger than Miami,' " Rolle said.
So he brought Miami to Columbus.
Rolle said he's been talking since he was a freshman, unable to restrain his confidence and unaffected by the idea that younger players should sometimes be seen and not heard. He parlayed that attitude into his election as a co-captain this season -- "It caught my breath. I can't believe I'm actually a captain," Rolle said -- and an expanding reputation as a playmaker. His 30-yard interception return for a touchdown was the highlight of Thursday's defensive effort in a 45-7 win over Marshall.
After Thursday's win, Rolle called Miami "a fast, spicy, swagger team," and there are few better words anyone could find to describe Rolle as a player. One of nine players from Florida on Ohio State's roster, he has certainly added flavor to Ohio State's defense.
"You can tell when guys are from Miami," OSU tight end Jake Stoneburner said. "It's good to have people from all different places. They can tell us what it's like down in Miami, what those guys are thinking. It kind of helps."
"B. Rolle is a very emotional player, and I like guys that are emotional," said OSU center Mike Brewster, an Orlando, Fla., native. "You don't get many chances to be in real games. You do all this training and you get 12 or 13 chances, you may as well lay it all out there. I think he does that."
If possible, Rolle will put even more into this game.
"It's a tremendous experience for me to play against the team I always wanted to play for," Rolle said.
He'll be playing with a Buckeye version of the Hurricane style he learned so well.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: dlesmerises@plaind.com, 216-999-4479