by Tim May, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH , The Columbus Dispatch

He is replacing his mentor and friend, Joe Daniels, the longtime quarterbacks coach who will move to the administrative side of the football program as he continues his fight with cancer.

"I feel very blessed, because there's probably 10,000 people who'd like to be in this chair," Siciliano said. "But I'd be lying to you if I didn't say there was some remorse from the standpoint of I know what Joe Daniels would love to be doing right now.

"That part breaks my heart, because Joe Daniels is a football coach. He loves this game, just like I do."

Since the spring of 2008, Siciliano, 34, has essentially been serving as quarterbacks coach, especially on the field. The NCAA granted OSU a waiver that allowed the use of two men to do the job while Daniels dealt with his health issues.

But the retirement of football operations director Bob Tucker last month gave coach Jim Tressel an opportunity to shuffle his support staff and move Daniels into that job, where he will share duties with Greg Gillum, Todd Alles and Amy Burgess.

"Joe is going to have plenty of work to do, no question about that," Tressel said. "But he just won't have to be here from seven in the morning till 10 at night, working out there in the hot sun."

Daniels is on vacation this week on Hilton Head Island, S.C., and wasn't available for comment.

Starting quarterback Terrelle Pryor, a freshman last season, treated the news more like business as usual.

"It's not really a change, because he's been my coach from Day One," Pryor said of Siciliano. "So as far as a transition, I don't think it will be anything different at all."

But there is a difference between the styles of Siciliano and Daniels.

"He's pretty fired up," Pryor said of Siciliano. "He expects us and he expects me to do our best, and do the right things. From that standpoint, I think he is a pretty good guy and I think we will move forward well."

Tressel, in his ninth year at OSU, has had to hire just one new assistant from the outside in the past three years: cornerbacks coach Taver Johnson from Miami University in 2007. But Tressel said the promotion of Siciliano can bring new potency to the offense.

"Any time you make changes, even from within, you're going to get new ideas and thoughts, because that fellow is thinking, 'Now I'm at the regular table rather than sitting in the row behind and keeping my mouth shut,' " Tressel said. "Where I thought (Siciliano) did a good job was observing."

Siciliano doesn't plan on changing his ways entirely.

"I think I have done OK in gaining pretty broad experience, but if I am not sure about something, I am going to tell you I'm not sure," Siciliano said. "It feels good to be able to speak up now, but I am going to think things through before I speak."

Siciliano's first job in football was as a graduate assistant for Tressel at Youngstown State in the late 1990s, followed by stops at Oklahoma (video coordinator), back at Youngstown State (tight ends coach), Urbana (quarterbacks coach/offensive coordinator) and North Carolina A&T (receivers, quarterbacks), before getting hired at Ohio State in 2005.

Siciliano thought OSU would be a notable steppingstone in his career. Instead, it has turned out to be the big break.

"I've stepped into a very fortunate situation," said Siciliano, whose wife, Analisa, gave birth to quadruplets in April 2008. "I've got a starting quarterback who wants to be great. I've got a backup guy (Joe Bauserman) who is a survivor and just knows how to play, period, and wants to be good.

"And then right down the hall, I've got two of what I consider to be the best quarterback coaches there are in coach Tressel and coach Daniels. If I have questions, I can get immediate answers. And if I'm not doing something right, I know they are going to let me know."

tmay@dispatch.com

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