Apologies for today's brevity. I'm on vacation in Boone, North Carolina to watch my girlfriend earn her master's degree. As such, there will be no Saturday Skull Session this week.
This week's NSFW ANTI-WORK #BANGERS:
- Patrice O'Neal: Elephant in the Room.
- Robin Williams: Live at the Met, 1985
- Trailer: Con Air (1997)
URBAN HAS A LIST, CHECKING IT TWICE. I hope the media continues to disrespect Ohio State by not listing them as preseason title favorites. I expect Ohio State to be in the thick of the playoff hunt, but there are questions needing answers between now and when Urban Meyer hoists his fourth championship trophy in 2017.
Tom Dienhart of btn.com broke down some of the dilemmas facing Meyer's young squad:
1. Develop the secondary. This is the biggest area of concern, as three new starters are needed with Eli Apple, Tyvis Powell and Vonn Bell gone. The only starter back is corner Gareon Conley. Malik Hooker looked good in the spring and has star potential at safety. Erick Smith and Cam Burrows will be factors. There is plenty of athletic ability and options for the staff to build a good secondary. Another wild card: The departure of co-DC/secondary coach Chris Ash, who took the Rutgers job.
2. Hone the wideout corps. There is a lot of potential on this unit. Now, can it turn that promise into production? Torrance Gibson is one to watch, as he flashed some ability in the spring after arriving on campus as a quarterback before making the transition to wideout. Can he be a deep threat with Michael Thomas and Braxton Miller gone? Noah Brown and Corey Smith need to be leaders. Others who need to be difference makers are Curtis Samuel, Terry McLaurin and Parris Campbell, and watch Johnnie Dixon and James Clark. Youngsters Austin Mack and K.J. Hill are exciting. Mack could be a stud true freshman after arriving early.
[...]
5. Develop the defensive line. Yes, just one starter is back in Jalyn Holmes, as talent like Joey Bosa, Tommy Schutt and Adolphus Washington is gone. Davon Hamilton had two sacks and Jason Cornell also had a pair in the spring game. And the staff likes Mike Hill and Dre’Mont Jones. Tyquan Lewis needs to be a leader and playmaker. There is a lot of talent in this group, but it must develop quickly. In the Big Ten, if you can’t stop the run, you have no shot to win.
To me, the biggest dilemma will be solidifying the offensive line. Everything else Urban Meyer does flows from his offensive line being able to command the game.
The defense is a different can of four and five-star athletes. I think the Silver Bullets can reach their 2014 level (they were the better unit overall last year), but it's going to take some time given Luke Fickell and Greg Schniano are replacing talent on every level.
ASH ON LETTING A FOX INTO THE HEN HOUSE. To counterbalance Jim Harbaugh's New Jersey satellite camp, Rutgers coach Chrish Ash invited Urban Meyer to hold one of their own 30 miles away.
For Ash, it's a dicey proposition. One one hand, it helps distill the star power involved in Harbaugh's camp. On the other, he invited one of the nation's best recruiters into his backyard.
Ash spoke on how he approaches recruiting with nj.com:
"It's situational. Recruiting is recruiting," Ash said. "There are guys, if they're committed, I won't go recruit. If there's a situation where a kid is committed but continues to call us and there's a connection, that might be a different deal. But at the end of the day, whether you have friends and relationships in this profession, you have a job to do and it's to go bring players into your program. There's a right way and a wrong way to do it. Not everybody sees it the same. But I'm going to be aware as the head coach of every situation that there is with a recruit that's committed or being looked at by somebody else: What's the right way to handle it, what's the wrong way to handle it, and make a decision do we move forward or not."
[...]
"It's probably the one part of this profession where you ruin friendships or relationships with people because somebody is committed and somebody else still tries to recruit him. Or things that are said behind a closed door happen to get out there in public and it does ruin relationships and friendships," Ash said. "But again, it's all situational. I've got a lot of friends in this profession. I've created some enemies in this profession because of recruiting. It is what it is."
I'd give props to Ash for staying away from players committed to Ohio State when he left for the Rutgers job, but let's be real: Ain't nobody about to turn down a full-ride to Ohio State in 2016 for one to Rutgers.
LET'S ARGUE ABOUT THIS FICTIONAL THING. Now that Ohio State let the black jerseys out of the bag, we can expect to see more money-grabs by the university and Nike in the near future.
When that happens—oh, it's happening—we could certainly do worse than this:
The helmet stripes are iconic, but that helmet could be the start to some smooth scarlet jerseys.
EARTH'S CURSTS SPLIT, SATAN RISES. One of the worst tweeters in the history of Twitter returned on Thursday:
Hello to all my followers. I have been away for quite a while but I am back and ready to go. I hope everyone is having a great day!
— Mark May (@mark_may) May 12, 2016
Looks like May used his extra time away from ESPN to learn how to cobble together complete sentences.
TOM HERMAN BOMBS SMU. Houston coach Tom Herman, who you might not know founded MENSA, the organization for geniuses, in 1947, is riding high into the 2016 season. While speaking at the Houston Rotary Club on Thursday, Herman went out of his way to bomb on Southern Methodist University.
Tom Herman to Rotary Club: 'We understand the price of a championship. That price is same for Alabama as it is for Ohio State and UH.'
— Joseph Duarte (@Joseph_Duarte) May 12, 2016
Herman: 'In order to pay that price you've got to be willing 2 invest. There's a price for 9-win seasons & prices for 8, 7-, 6-win seasons.'
— Joseph Duarte (@Joseph_Duarte) May 12, 2016
Herman (cont.): 'Those prices are a lot easier to pay. And if you're satisfied w/ going 7-5 and going to Poulan Weedeater Bowl then great.'
— Joseph Duarte (@Joseph_Duarte) May 12, 2016
Tom Herman (cont.): 'Then you're in the wrong program and we'll find a place for you to go.'
— Joseph Duarte (@Joseph_Duarte) May 12, 2016
More Herman: 'I hear there's a private school up in Dallas that's really looking to try to get to 7 wins. We can certainly find you a home.'
— Joseph Duarte (@Joseph_Duarte) May 12, 2016
TIL: The Poulan Weedeater Bowl was a real thing. Is there anything Tom Herman doesn't know?
THOSE WMDs. Virginia student wins $212,500 after ABC agents mistook her water for beer... This 90-year-old Dutch lady seduced and killed Nazis as a #teen... 70s art project mistakenly valued at $50,000... What we would do to stop a doomsday asteroid... Young Americans drink more, eat worse, and stay skinner than anyone else.
