Winning the national championship provides loads of perks, among them constant attention, a boost in popularity and even in Ohio State's case, a brand new television show.
At Big Ten Media Day in Chicago July 31, Big Ten Network announced plans for Scarlet and Gray Days, and exclusive, original, behind-the-scenes look at Urban Meyer's football program as players wade through the treacherous waters of training camp.
The first episode aired Aug. 19, providing viewers with an idea of the media attention surrounding the Buckeyes as they moved into their team hotel prior to camp in addition to the first few grueling practice sessions.
The second of three installments in the series premiers Wednesday at 7 p.m. on Big Ten Network, with the final episode wrapping things up a week later.
With fans anxiously awaiting as many videos and interviews as they can get from Meyer and the players and coaches within his program, Eleven Warriors spoke with BTN Originals coordinating producer Bill Friedman Wednesday morning to see what we can expect from Wednesday's episode and the future of the series.
"It's the biggest story in college football, not even just the Big Ten," Friedman told Eleven Warriors. "That's a great confluence of events with us. We're thrilled about that."
Below is the full 10-minute interview with the man charged with putting it all together.
Eleven Warriors: What can fans expect from Wednesday's episode of Scarlet and Gray Days?
Bill Friedman: I think our second episode kind of works a little bit more on developing some more of the characters we introduced in the first show and showing their progress a little bit. We revisit, obviously, the quarterback competition, we look at Braxton (Miller's) transformation to wide receiver from quarterback, we do a little bit with Ezekiel Elliott both about being in the Heisman (Trophy) contention but also helping him mentor Mike Weber, we follow up on the Big Brother program a little bit and the shows really starts in a cool way. We started with the first day in shoulder pads and it's a great buildup to the first circle drill, which is a really cool first start to the show.
What makes Scarlet and Gray Days different than other Big Ten Network Originals like The Journey?
BF: I think it's just a different type of show. Most of our other shows focus on multiple schools. When we do the journey it's a conference-wide look at the football and basketball seasons. This is a specific, targeted look at just Ohio State football so I think that's a big difference right there. I really think that we look at this show as a true documentary of training camp. That's what we're trying to make it. It's a three-part documentary about what goes on a training camp which I think is a little different at what we do with some of our other programs.
What about the program's final episode? What should fans keep their eye out for as training camp ends?
BF: Maybe the best way to describe it is to look at the series as a three-act play. You have your first episode last week that kind of introduces everybody and now you see as camp has gotten a little further, the put shoulder pads on and then next week it'll be a little bit ... they'll have full pads on for the first time. We had a really good shoot at Media Day and can show people more personality and what these guys are like when they're not playing football a little bit, with some of their families. We just shot this past Monday which was kind of the last day. Camp kind of had two endings, it seemed to me. There was the 22nd when they checked out of the hotel and then there was Monday the 24th which was the last day before classes started. Their schedule just changes when class starts because they have other commitments which is going to class. So we were there for that day which was a really spirited practice. We had Coach Meyer wear a microphone for that practice and you'll hear a lot of what he said in our third show.
What's it been like working behind the scenes with Ohio State, as compared to other schools in the Big Ten?
BF: We had a wonderful experience on this show. We really did. We had a great, great understanding with Ohio State with what was available for us to film, which was a lot and we were able to capture it all. They were the most professional organized and efficient people, easy to deal with. No problems at all. We really had a positive experience filming this show.
If you could pick one moment as your favorite through this whole experience at Ohio State, what would it be?
BF: That's tough. I'll just go with from the second show since it is airing (Wednesday). My favorite moment from the second show, and they're a lot of them, but I think one that was really good is we have, you just see a lot of personality with this show and I think that's great. Practice is practice and for the true, hardcore football fan, they probably love practice, but at the end of the day, it's just drills. You're not getting any strategy out of it and you're just seeing drills. So practice is practice to me. I really loved, we had a linebackers meeting where the linebacker coaches had put out a couple hurdles outside the meeting room and they had to have the players go in and out of them on the way into the meeting. The players were all dancing and just having fun. It's nice to see. When you watch the Buckeyes on the field on Saturdays, you see a very focused and business-like operation. That's a credit to their coaching staff and you see why they have so much success. It's just nice to know that they're also college kids, too. To catch a little glimpse of it, they just want to have fun with their friends for 30 seconds, we were able to capture moments of that throughout the second show and you'll see it in the third show as well. I just think that is very refreshing.
Is the documentary setting in place with Scarlet and Gray Days going to continue in the future with other programs?
BF: It's a great question. I think we've all at BTN been very happy with A. how the show's turned out, just as a watch. There have been very strong watches. And 2. what the feedback's been from our audience, which is good. So usually when those two things are positive there certainly will be the chance that we'll try to continue to do this in the future. It's hard to say — you're asking me what's going to be on our air next August and I'm trying to figure out what's going to be in the third show. It's a great question, it's a fair question and my hope is that we will. That's probably the best way to answer your question.
Below are clips from Wednesday's episode, including a bit of what Friedman mentioned. The show airs at 7 p.m. on Big Ten Network. If you missed last week's installment, it is set to air again at 5:30 p.m.
