Ohio State could have named twice as many captains – or more – as it actually did.
Believing that his team has a large group of leaders entering the 2024 season, Ryan Day said Monday during the Season Kickoff Show on the Ohio State Sports Network that “there could have been about eight to 10 captains.” After naming only three captains in 2023, however, Ohio State decided to be selective with captaincy once again by bestowing the honor upon four seniors: Emeka Egbuka, TreVeyon Henderson, Jack Sawyer and Cody Simon.
Ohio State’s players voted to select those captains, and Day was pleased with who the team chose to be its official leaders.
“Our guys did a great job voting. I think they did a great job in their selection. I think Cody, Emeka, Trey and Jack all represent Ohio State the way that everybody would expect,” Day said. “We're happy with the guys that were selected.”
Simon was also selected as this year’s recipient of the “Block O” jersey, becoming the fifth Buckeye to receive the coveted No. 0 jersey since it was first awarded in 2020. Ohio State’s coaching staff made that selection, which Day said was also a “difficult decision” between numerous worthy candidates. But they collectively decided that Simon, a fifth-year senior who will be the Buckeyes’ starting Mike linebacker this season, was the player who deserved it most.
“It's something that (Mickey Marotti and his strength and conditioning staff) really have a huge input on. I give my input as well, but in the end I felt like Cody really stuck out,” Day said.
Day said the Buckeyes foster leadership throughout the offseason by selecting a leadership committee before both winter workouts and summer workouts. He says that gives the team a good feel for who its best leaders are going into the season, leading to players naturally emerging as potential captains.
“That allows our team to see some of the leaders on the leadership committee in leadership settings and see how they actually do. The same guys who are selected in the winter aren't always the same ones in the summer,” Day said. “So by the time it's about time to vote for the captains, we've done it a few times and guys have been in those situations.”
“I think Cody, Emeka, Trey and Jack all represent Ohio State the way that everybody would expect.”– Ryan Day on Ohio State’s 2024 captains
Day also talked about several other topics during his seven-minute appearance on the Ohio Stae Season Kickoff Show, including how the team’s routine changes now that classes have started at Ohio State, how the Buckeyes are acclimating to the introduction of helmet communication into college football and how the team is preparing for the season opener against Akron in less than two weeks.
A brief summary of everything else he had to say:
- Day said Monday was the Buckeyes’ last full day of preseason camp. They’ll hold their first afternoon practice of the preseason on Tuesday.
- Day said the use of tablets on the sideline is “pretty straightforward. Each series, we're able to go over and watch the previous series on a tablet.”
- “The player-to-coach communication is a little bit different,” Day said. “There's a lot that goes with that. It turns off at 15 seconds. So depending on the tempo of where we're going, we have to communicate what we're doing, either through signals or through the helmet communication.” The Buckeyes tested both the use of tablets and helmet communication during their scrimmage on Saturday.
- “I've been told that if you take the tablet and show it to any of the referees, there's going to be a penalty. So we're going to have to make sure that it's staying on the sideline.”
- Day didn’t address any specific position battles during the show but said “the depth charts are being settled and now guys are going to have to embrace their roles.”
- On Chip Kelly, Day said “it's been great to see some of the ideas that Chip's brought to the table … When you've been together with a group of guys for as long as we have on offense, everyone kind of sees it the same way. A different perspective and a fresh outlook is always healthy.”
- On preparing for Akron after the Zips brought in a large group of transfers this offseason: “You try to do the best you can to identify schematically the front and the back end structurally. How they like to go at it. You look at the coordinators … Personnel-wise is a little trickier. We have personnel here that can get an idea of some of their size, speed, those type of things … Usually in the first game, what we're really trying to focus on is our fundamentals. Knowing that they could come out with a bunch of different things, we want to make sure that we're not getting over-scheming in that first game, and really focused on taking care of the football and playing really hard.”
