Soothsayer: Caesar!
Caesar: Ha! who calls?
Casca: Bid every noise be still: peace yet again!
Caesar: Who is it in the press that calls on me?
I hear a tongue, shriller than all the music,
Cry 'Caesar!' Speak; Caesar is turn'd to hear.
Soothsayer: Beware the ides of March.
Caesar: What man is that?
Brutus: A soothsayer bids you beware the ides of March.
Caesar: Set him before me; let me see his face.
Cassius: Fellow, come from the throng; look upon Caesar.
Caesar: What say'st thou to me now? Speak once again.
Soothsayer: Beware the ides of March.
Caesar: He is a dreamer; let us leave him.
ICYMI:
- The Ohio State alternate jersey bracket.
- Tom Herman, the founder of MENSA, the organization for geniuses, lamented the three-year anniversary of that time he endured two inches of snow in March.
- Nobody knows what Marshon Lattimore looks like.
- Ohio State will pay Bowling Green $1.2 million for a game in 2020.
- Ohio State Basketball: What's next for Thad Matta's program?
- Help put a statue of Woody Hayes in his hometown of Newcomerstown, Ohio.
Word of the Day: Miasma.
BACK WHEN THEY CALLED THE GOOD PLAYS. Folks, we may never see a run like 2014 ever again. From losing Braxton to losing to Virginia Tech (and the charlatan Clay Travis forgetting that last nail on the Big Ten's coffin), to losing J.T. Barrett and unleashing Cardale Jones... It's all unbelievable almost three years later.
But you know who didn't forget about the good times? Urban Frank Meyer. In fact, he made his new offensive coaches (Kevin Wilson and Ryan Day) watch that legendary run to get the idea of Meyer's offensive #goals.
From theozone.net:
"Running the football is complicated, but throwing the football is even more complicated," Meyer said. "The first place you always start is with pass protection and obviously that was not a strength of ours last year. And I just want to see more accuracy."
With two new offensive coordinators under Meyer's roof, it was important to him to explain to Kevin Wilson and Ryan Day what he wanted the 2017 offense to look like, and exactly what has been missing.
"We went back and watched our best games that we’ve had here," he said. "The offensive coordinator, myself, Ryan Day, I wanted everyone to watch – this is our vision, this is our dream. Very balanced. We’re not changing who we are. We have to get back to being that productive 250-250. Great tempo in between plays, aggressive play calling, and that run of Wisconsin, Alabama, Oregon were perfect examples, and Michigan State in 2014. And there’s plenty of other games, but I made them watch and I sat down and ran the clicker and said, ‘This is what I want it to look like.’"
No pressure now, new guys. Your boss (and OSU's millions of fans) only expect you to resurrect one of the most magical runs in sports history with a proven dominant line or a proven deep threat like Devin Smith.
Happy studying!
CAM EYES NEXT CHAPTER. Kerry Coombs fished Cameron Johnston out of Australia in 2013 after Johnny Townsend made the bold play of flipping from Ohio State to Will Muschamp's Florida. It worked out for the former Aussie rules football player, as he left Columbus as one of the best—if not the best—punters in school history.
Johnston went to the NFL Combine this year, and is viewed as a "safe punting option," though he's behind some dude from Idaho?
From Kyle Rowland of The Toledo Blade:
“The NFL was always an end goal in the back of my mind,” Johnston said. “But when I first moved here, I wasn’t even thinking about that. You’re just trying to adjust to life in America. My first few games, I was just trying to learn the rules when I was on the sideline. My first game against Buffalo was actually the first football game I’d ever been to.”
[...]
“My favorite punter in the 2017 NFL draft is Austin Rehkow of Idaho, and he’s the only punter I expect to be drafted in the 2017 class,” said Eric Galko, a draft analyst for Sporting News. “That said, Johnston is one of three or four punters I expect to get late-round consideration and get a strong opportunity to earn a spot in the NFL.
“One of the biggest detractions for Johnston is his size and length, which NFL special teams coaches consider as a sign of improved distances and upside in punter. But his power as a punter and reliability in Ohio State’s biggest games over the last four years should make him viewed as a ‘safe’ punting prospect.”
Listen, I've been to Idaho. Their claims to fame are potatoes, backwoods racism, and this 2005 Rolling Stone article about two high school dropouts turned weed kingpins.
What Idaho is to potatoes, Australia is to punts. This isn't a decision from where I sit.
Earlier this month I joked about the Browns taking Johnston with the No. 1 pick. That's obviously preposterous. The more likely scenario is they draft this Idahoan in the fourth round and he shreds his knee celebrating the phone call from Sashi Brown.
WHY NOT? Searching the desolate spring break hellscape for Skully #content, I stumbled across Ramzy tweeting about Ted Ginn punt returns in 2005. After a conversation about how "shit got real" when Ginn dipped his head, a follower sent me this.
I thought, "Man, I'd love to figure out a way to include this in tomorrow's Skull Session. And then it hit me. I run this damn show, and there's never a bad time to drop a Ginn mixtape.
Via @JoeDooder:
I'm 30 years old and not about to pretend I'm an Ohio State football historian. There have been better football players than Ginn at OSU in my life, but I don't think any of them were more fun to watch.
ROD SMITH: SKATEBOARDER. Urban Meyer dismissed running back Rod Smith in October 2014. Smith caught on with the Seahawks before signing with the Dallas Cowboys practice squad.
Smith signed a future reserve contract with the Cowboys in January. He's spending his March, uh, hanging out with Puerto Rican skateboarders.
From Rod Smith's Instagram:
Hopefully, Smith's people clear his appearance in Montreal with me, the King of Montreal. I have visions of him dominating the Canadian Football League for my beloved Alouettes. Judging by appearances, though, he'll have to tighten up that diet.
OLD MAN WITH A DEATH WISH. College football stadiums are filled every year with middle-aged men who, deep down, truly believe they could contribute to their team if push came to shove.
Only one appears to be about that life, and he's a Clemson fan.
From postandcourier.com:
All of them are 18 to 22 years old. [Greg] Morris is 45.
Hoping to become the oldest player to ever suit up for the Tigers’ football team, Morris went through a series of intense agility and skill drills Monday afternoon in what was an open audition for walk-ons should Swinney have a spot come open in the future. It started out as a joke — “just try it,” Morris's wife Tanya would tell him, “you’ve got nothing to lose” — but the more he thought about it, the more he got on board.
Morris, however, has little to no chance of making the Clemson team. Asked Monday about Morris, Swinney just smiled.
It's a shame Swinney isn't sadistic enough to send this guy out to return a kickoff in the spring game. That would end up with Swinney in cuffs after catching a manslaughter charge.
THOSE WMDs. Three RBs changed Mike Leach's Air Raid, and it might stick... The I.O.U., by Scott Fitzgerald... The cold, hard facts of freezing to death... Therapy, Vegas style: Hospital offers slots... How a mythical "hermit" criminal hid in the woods for decades.
