Welcome to the Skull Session.
More Ohio State baseball players had their dreams come true this week.
ICYMI: 3 Buckeyes were selected in the 2023 MLB Draft@Icoupet34 @Rockies (Rd. 4, Pick 109)@joshtimmerman15 @Brewers (Rd. 16, Pick 482)@KadeKern @Braves (Rd. 17, Pick 519)#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/SnuR3OwQTO
— Ohio State Baseball (@OhioStateBASE) July 12, 2023
Let's have a good Thursday, shall we?
A QUARTERBACK GURU. Outside of Ohio State's back-to-back losses to Michigan, Ryan Day has had a successful four seasons as the Buckeyes' head coach, recording a 45-6 record with two Big Ten titles and three College Football Playoff appearances.
But what has stood out from that success? Well, that would be Day's work with Ohio State's quarterbacks.
Even before his tenure as head coach started, Day instructed J.T. Barrett in his final season at Ohio State in 2017, where the record-breaking Buckeye threw for 3,053 yards and 35 touchdowns. In 2018, his last year as a coordinator, Dwayne Haskins tossed for 4,831 yards and 50 scores.
When Day became the program's leader in 2019, he remained a constant presence in Ohio State's quarterback room. Over the next two seasons, Justin Fields became one of the school's all-time players, collecting 5,373 yards and 63 touchdowns in only 22 starts. The Buckeyes' most recent quarterback, C.J. Stroud, replaced Fields to the tune of 8,123 yards and 85 touchdowns in 25 starts.
With all of these numbers in mind, as well as the first-round draft status of Haskins (No. 16 overall to Washington in 2019), Fields (No. 11 overall to Chicago in 2021) and Stroud (No. 2 overall to Houston in 2023), Fox Sports' Bryan Fischer named Day as the best developer of quarterbacks in college football:
Day has developed three first-round quarterbacks in just five seasons as a head coach – four fully in charge of the Buckeyes – and occupies the top spot in this ranking. As noted earlier in this series, Day has had all three guys that he has coached and called plays for selected in the top 15 of the NFL Draft: C.J. Stroud, Justin Fields and the late Dwayne Haskins.
It's also worth rehashing this remarkable stat: Day was a junior in high school the last time a Big Ten QB was drafted in the first round who wasn’t coached by him (Kerry Collins in 1995).
With Heisman Trophy-winner Caleb Williams as a potential No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft, USC head coach Lincoln Riley could overtake Day for the top spot in the category before next season.
However, Day and his players will have ample chances to respond, as Kyle McCord, Devin Brown, Lincoln Kienholz, Air Noland and other top recruits will compete to be Ohio State's QB1 in future seasons. Should they receive that coveted title, there's no reason to doubt the four Buckeyes could become one of Day's next first-round quarterback prospects out of Columbus.
THE BEST OF THE BEST. Script Ohio is one of the best traditions in college football. Ohio State fans understand this, but what about those outside the walls of Buckeye Nation? Paul Myerberg of USA TODAY would rank the Ohio State marching band's performance among the best in the Big Ten - up there with Iowa's "Hawkeye Wave."
Dotting the "i" ― Performed to the tune of Robert Planquette’s "Le Régiment de Sambre et Meuse," the school marching band's iconic Script Ohio formation is capped with a senior sousaphone player strutting to the dot above the "i" in "Ohio" and taking a deep bow to both sides of the stadium. The honored assignment has only been granted to a handful of non-band members, including John Glenn, Jack Nicklaus and Bob Hope.
It's too good.
When Ohio State named Marvin Harrison Jr., JT Tuimoloau and Cade Stover as its three representatives for Big Ten Media Days in two weeks, I was reminded that the college football season is around the corner. That means we are very, very close to Script Ohio's return to Ohio Stadium. Prepare for the sweet sounds of instruments and claps inside the Shoe as TBDBITL marches out of the tunnel and drives down the field, people.
WELL, THAT'S WEIRD. When the Big Ten announced its $7 billion media deal with FOX, CBS and NBC, I knew there would come a time when we would see Ohio State content from the latter two companies. However, when I watched this video from NBC on Wednesday, witnessing the peacock on the same screen as a B1G logo was still strange.
Ahmed Fareed discussed Ohio State with college football analyst Todd Blackledge in the video. Get used to hearing Blackledge speak about the Buckeyes, as he will provide commentary with Noah Eagle on Big Ten Saturday Night matchups on NBC. That means Blackledge will be on the call for at least Ohio State's Nov. 11 matchup with Michigan State at the Shoe.
I like Blackledge. I'd rank him below Joel Klatt – who I believe is in a league of his own – and Kirk Herbstreit when it comes to my favorite color commentators for college football. I look forward to hearing his analysis when Ohio State plays on the National Broadcasting Channel in the future.
MORE ON STROUD. In Wednesday's Skull Session, I wrote about recent comments from C.J. Stroud where the former Ohio State quarterback said he's "done well" with his offseason work for the Houston Texans and feels he's started to build chemistry with pass-catchers Robert Woods, Tank Dell and Dalton Schultz.
As the week has continued, it's become evident that Stroud has not only impressed himself, but his teammates, too, as the days wind down toward training camp on July 21. In an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show, Texans left tackle Laremy Tunsil shared that Stroud has been "a straight dog" this summer.
"CJ Stroud came in here with unbelievable leadership skills and he's a straight dawg"@KingTunsil78 #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/xzBsiVe1DG
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) July 7, 2023
“He came into the building with these unbelievable leadership skills, and he’s killing it, man,” Tunsil said. “How I describe C.J. is (that he is a) dog. He’s a straight dog. He comes in there ready to work. He handles the huddle perfectly. And he goes out there and balls. And you have to appreciate that, especially a young quarterback like C.J."
You heard it from Tunsil, folks. Stroud has that dawg in him, and he'll prove that in the red, white and blue in 2023-24.
SONG OF THE DAY. "Something In The Orange" by Zach Bryan.
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