You've made it to the weekend. Congratulations. I wish you much rest and plenty of football.
Word of the Day: Lacuna.
CRADLE OF COACHES. Ohio State's always been a launching bad for future coaching stars, so much so that there are far, far too many legends to even begin to name names.
And that doesn't seem to be changing, with four coaches with Buckeye ties cracking 247Sports' 30Under30 list.
Keenan Bailey, Ohio State, Quality Control Coach (25): Last year, Corey Dennis made this list in the role Bailey now occupies. Considering Dennis is now Ohio State's QB coach, it's a good place to be. Bailey had a few on-field offers this offseason but turned them down to remain on Ryan Day’s staff for another season. He previously worked with Ohio State’s receivers – both as a GA and quality control coach – and transitioned to quarterbacks this offseason. One Buckeye source said of Bailey: “He will be the next guy to get a big job from Ohio State.” Bailey started his career at Notre Dame, where he was a recruiting analyst for two years.
...
Corey Dennis, Ohio State, Quarterbacks Coach (27): In need of a replacement for the departing Mike Yurcich, head coach Ryan Day tabbed Dennis as the team’s next QB coach. Dennis had spent the previous five seasons in Columbus as an off-field assistant, largely working as Day’s right-hand man and tutoring quarterbacks. “He’s like my personal QB coach when Coach Day is not around,” Dwayne Haskins said in 2018. Now, Dennis takes over a QB room that includes Justin Fields and 2020 five-star CJ Stroud. Dennis is on a quick coordinator track.
This list also includes Sam Duggan, who now works for Jeff Hafley at Boston College after spending the 2019 season at Ohio State as a graduate assistant, as well as everyone's favorite career backup quarterback, Kenny Guiton, who's now coaching receivers at Colorado State.
DENZEL WARD, HAVE A DAY. Given that they arrived in Columbus in the same recruiting class and spent almost their entire Buckeye careers together, you have to figure Denzel Ward and Joe Burrow are extremely familiar with each other.
And Burrow probably wishes he never has to see him again.
Ward lined up against A.J. Green on 16 plays in coverage Green was targeted 7 times for only 2 receptions for 14 yards.
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) September 18, 2020
Ward pressed Green at the line of scrimmage on 11 of those 16 plays.
Burrow still completed 60 percent of his throws for 316 yards and three touchdowns – a hell of a game for a rookie on a... rebuilding team. But Ward was the clear winner on Thursday, and probably the best player on the field.
WELCOME BACK! Well, it looks like we might have a fairly full college football season after all. Just a few days after the Big Ten resurrected its season, it seems the Pac-12 is on the verge of doing the same.
Im expecting #Pac12 restart to be approved tomorrow and practices to begin next week. https://t.co/WPmAGiEl9k
— Brandon Marcello (@bmarcello) September 17, 2020
And it seems the Mountain West, the MAC and every other conference that postponed its season is now trying to jumpstart them again.
I know the Big Ten was hoping to be a trendsetter when it announced its postponement in August, but this form of trendsetting is a hell of a lot more fun.
WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? Just because the Big Ten got football back does not mean Kevin Warren is suddenly good at his job. In fact, the more I learn about this whole situation, the more baffled I am that he was hired in the first place.
I mean, get a load of this.
Sources: The #BigTen consulted with network partners such as Fox & ESPN before making its decision to play football this fall, an important step the conference did not take before its decision to postpone in the first place (@Ourand_SBJ).
— Sports Business Journal (@sbjsbd) September 16, 2020
: https://t.co/AH9Sqomw7Z pic.twitter.com/TdYhA0Ga81
... how do you not consider that before making a conference-altering, college football world-shattering, potentially contract-breaching decision?
More than that, what the hell were you doing between the months of March and August? We know you weren't having conversations with Fox and ESPN, we know you weren't securing testing, we know you weren't planning for any contingency plans if the season couldn't start on time. So like, what were you doing?
Listen, I'm stoked to have football back, but that doesn't make the previous sevenish months any less of a shit show.
SONG OF THE DAY. "The Man Who Sold the World" by David Bowie.
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