Welcome to the Skull Session.
Ohio State fired safeties coach Perry Eliano on Monday.
Perry Eliano is out after two seasons as Ohio States safeties coach. https://t.co/QpimhFaywX
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) January 8, 2024
If sportsbooks featured lines for which Ohio State assistant would be fired first in the offseason, Eliano would have been listed... oh, I don’t know... fourth? Parker Fleming, Corey Dennis and Justin Frye would undoubtedly have been listed higher. However, those coaches remain safe... for now.
And one more note for the intro: BOOM.
Ohio State adds a two-time All-SEC running back from the transfer portal as former Ole Miss star Quinshon Judkins commits to the Buckeyes. https://t.co/nIM18W7zgk
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) January 9, 2024
Have a good Tuesday.
THIS SEASON SUCKED. Ohio State ended 2023 with a 14-3 loss to Missouri in the Cotton Bowl. Michigan ended 2023 with a 34-13 win over Washington in the College Football Playoff national championship.
This season sucked.
HAIL TO THE VICTORS, THE WOLVERINES ARE NATIONAL CHAMPIONS #NationalChampionship pic.twitter.com/WipIS3u5dK
— ESPN (@espn) January 9, 2024
The 2023 national champions will be in Columbus on Nov. 30.
YES SIR, PRESIDENT SLAPSHOT. On Jan. 1, Walter “Ted” Carter Jr. took office as Ohio State’s 17th president.
On Monday, Carter discussed several Ohio State-related topics in a press conference with reporters, one of which was about Ryan Day. After three consecutive losses to Michigan in The Game, a reporter asked Carter to share his opinion on the Buckeyes’ head football coach. Carter used the platform to offer a vote of confidence in Day.
“I have a great respect for the biggest rivalries that exist in the country. As somebody who ran the Naval Academy, the Army-Navy game is as big a rivalry – only second to the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry,” Carter explained. “I think Ryan Day would also say that our goals are to win the Big Ten and win the national championship every year. We didn’t meet that. But Ryan Day runs a fantastic program. He’s our coach. I’m proud that he’s our coach. He will continue to be our coach.”
ATTN: Ryan Day Detractors, President Slapshot has spoken. Day is Ohio State’s coach now and in the future, and there will be no change of leadership in the football program (for now). There will be a change in leadership in Ohio State’s athletic director position this summer, however.
With Gene Smith set to retire on June 30, Carter will help assist a search committee – which includes college football’s only two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin, Ohio State hoops legend Clark “Special K” Kellogg and 11 others – in naming Smith’s replacement. In the press conference, Carter said that the search is “well underway.” A source told Eleven Warriors that Ohio State has identified a handful of finalists that will be interviewed in January.
WAIT, HE’S GOATED. While Ohio State decided to move on from Perry Eliano as its safeties coach, the Buckeyes should consider a lifetime contract offer to Tim Walton after seeing how he's recruited (and coached) since he arrived in 2022.
On Saturday, Walton landed five-star cornerback Devin Sanchez, the No. 6 overall prospect and No. 2 cornerback in the 2025 class, according to the 247Sports composite. With four-star cornerback Blake Woodby locked in for 2025, Sanchez's commitment marked the third consecutive class in which Walton has landed two top-10 cornerback prospects:
- Four-star 2023 cornerback Jermaine Mathews, No. 51 overall and No. 6 cornerback
- Four-star 2023 cornerback Calvin Simpson-Hunt, No. 62 overall and No. 8 cornerback
- Five-star 2024 cornerback Aaron Scott, No. 34 overall and No. 2 cornerback
- Four-star 2024 cornerback Bryce West, No. 58 overall and No. 4 cornerback
- Five-star 2025 cornerback Devin Sanchez, No. 6 overall and No. 2 cornerback
- Four-star 2025 cornerback Blake Woodby, No. 76 overall and No. 10 cornerback
When Ryan Day hired Walton, the former Ohio State cornerback had spent the last 11 seasons as an assistant coach with the Detroit Lions, St. Louis Rams, New York Giants and Jacksonville Jaguars. His role in Columbus became to restore to the Buckeyes their “BIA” title card, one that the likes of Marshon Lattimore, Denzel Ward and Jeff Okudah created and carried on.
After two full seasons with Walton, the restoration could be complete.
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) January 6, 2024
Denzel Burke, Davison Igbinosun and Jordan Hancock were all incredible in 2023. Their freshmen backups, Mathews and Simpson-Hunt, showed promise. The future backups for Mathews and Simpson-Hunt, Scott, West, Sanchez and Woodby, showed potential.
On National Signing Day in December, a reporter asked Day what he looks for when evaluating assistant coaches. Day shared three bullet points.
The first was recruiting.
“You have to recruit your position,” Day said. “You’re the head coach of your position. You have to make sure that room is strong year-in and year-out.”
The second was on-field production.
“What type of production are you getting out of your unit? A big part of that is the development,” Day said. “If you’re recruiting well and developing your players, then usually you’re going to get production.”
The third was... other coach stuff that matters. Day kind of got off topic in what was one of the most chaotic press conferences I have witnessed in three years on the beat.
Walton has recruited. Walton has developed. Walton has done... other coach stuff that matters (like Thoughtful Thursday!).
Thoughtful Thursday! pic.twitter.com/7f2IYTisEL
— Tim Walton (@CoachTimWalton) December 28, 2023
While several of Ohio State's coaches deserve criticism for their performances (or their players' performances) in 2023 and/or the Cotton Bowl, Walton deserves praise. And lots of it.
You love to see that.
“PRESSURE IS A PRIVILEGE.” With the national championship at NRG Stadium in Houston, former Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud appeared on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Monday to discuss Stroud leading the Texans to the postseason in 2023.
Amid that discussion, Stroud reflected on his three years at Ohio State a handful of times. He also offered Ryan Day an incredible endorsement, calling the Ohio State head coach a “world-renowned offensive coordinator and playcaller.” I included the video of Stroud's appearance and a transcription of some of his quotes here:
On his leadership and professional approach to football
“I was groomed into this at Ohio State – winning a lot of big games, losing a lot of big games, having to be the leader of the team. When everything hits the fan, everybody is looking at you. At that point, (there were), like, 108,000 (people) in our stadium. Now, it's a little less, but it's still a lot of pressure. But I think pressure is a privilege. I think God put a special spirit in my heart to calm the storm and rally guys around. I also have great teammates to do it with me. It's been a blessing this year. I'm working with a great group of guys. We've shocked the world. We want to keep going. We want to prove ourselves right.”
On his S2 Cognition Test Score, how he proved it didn’t matter
“You know, I always say, 'The eye in the sky don't lie.' You can watch the film, and you can put on the tape from college. You can't play at Ohio State under Coach (Ryan) Day, who is a world-renowned offensive coordinator and playcaller and (runs) an offense that's pretty deep when it comes to being knowledgeable – you have to know everything. I even had more responsibilities in college than I do know in this offense and this scheme (with the Texans).”
On the Texans’ Super Bowl chances
“We have a Super Bowl team. We have a team that can shock everybody. I don't really know what it takes (because) this is my first year. But I think the statement of winners win and losers lose, that's real. In my career, I've won lots of games. My teammates have as well. We needed winners in the building. Once we got that going and started getting a rhythm with each other – it took a while, it took a minute – but once we got our rhythm, we started looking good, and now we are here.”
On his performance in the Ohio State-Georgia CFP Game
“I don't think that was my best college game. I think that was my most freed game. I was like, 'Whatever happens, I don't care. I'll go out with no regrets.' I just let go. It's a lot of pressure playing at Ohio State, man. Losing one game – especially the games we lost – we were still a really good team, but our fans told us we sucked at that point. But a lot of our fans stuck true. They were, like, the social media fans. That's what I called them. You see a stadium, and Coach Day used to tell me, 'You could think the whole stadium hates you, but they don't.' Our fans love us. But losing (The Game) doesn't help. ... At that point, I was like, 'Man, I've done a lot of cool stuff in college. I'll go prove myself.' ... We did that. We came up short. But I showed what I can do.”
On who he planned to root for in the national championship
“I'm going for Washington. Michael Penix is a great quarterback. He's a dog. I like Penix. I like the receivers. ... We played (Penix) in the COVID year in 2020, and he lit us up with Indiana. He lit us up. That was kind of the game that put him on the map. I was like, 'Man, who is this dude?' He was nice.”
Man, C.J. Stroud. You want to root for that kid.
I can't believe Browns fans have to root against him on Saturday.
That's a tough draw. It really is.
SONG OF THE DAY. “Broken Halos” - Chris Stapleton.
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