Welcome to the Skull Session.
Ohio State football's winter workout posts have started.
our story begins now pic.twitter.com/xZRvWJlDCw
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) January 23, 2024
The Buckeyes' season opener is in 220 days. That's a nice reminder after the men's basketball team suffered another loss on Tuesday.
Have a good Wednesday.
MORE... MORE!! Dan Hope despises the phrase “way too early.” I learned of Dan’s hatred in a Slack message on Dec. 22, 2022:
ME: Ryan Day uses the word “certainly” in his press conferences a lot.
DAN: Not as much as “competitive stamina.”
DAN: Speaking of overused phrases, now feels like a time to inform you that I despise the phrase “way too early.”
ME: Noted. What's the backstory there?
DAN: I think it's dumb. Why did that become the universal jargon for early top 25s and such? Just call it an early top 25. ESPN (or whoever started it) used it once, and then all other outlets used it, too. But I seem to be in the minority who will die on that hill.
ME: I'll climb that hill and stand with you. I'm there.
Oh, our pet peeves and the like.
What are some of yours?
In an attempt not to set off some of Dan’s, I’ll share Ohio State’s early All-Americans for 2024. According to Chris Low of ESPN, TreVeyon Henderson, Donovan Jackson, Tyleik Williams and Caleb Downs will be first-team All-Americans next season, while Quinshon Judkins and Denzel Burke will be second-team honorees.
RB: TreVeyon Henderson, Ohio State
Henderson's announcement that he would be back in 2024 was good news for Ohio State's offense, which will be headed up by new coordinator Bill O'Brien. Henderson shared carries last season but still managed 926 yards and 11 touchdowns. He'll again share carries next season with former Ole Miss star Quinshon Judkins, who is transferring in to give the Buckeyes what should be the best one-two punch in the country.
OG: Donovan Jackson, Ohio State
Jackson has started at left guard for the Buckeyes each of the past two seasons and was a first-team All-Big Ten selection in 2023. He considered turning pro, but said there is "still more to do" at Ohio State, which should be loaded on the offensive line next season. The 6-4, 320-pound Jackson has allowed just two sacks in two years as a starter and is a mauler in the running game
DT: Tyleik Williams, Ohio State
After a 2023 season that saw Williams tie for the team lead with 10 tackles for loss, his announcement that he was returning for his senior season was big news around the Ohio State football complex. The 6-2, 290-pound Williams would have been one of the top five or six interior defensive line prospects in this year's NFL draft had he come out, but now that he's back, the Buckeyes head into 2024 with one of the strongest defensive lines in the country.
S: Caleb Downs, Ohio State
Alabama's loss was Ohio State's gain. After one sensational season in Tuscaloosa, Downs transferred to Ohio State last week and immediately steps into the Buckeyes' secondary as one of the most talented defenders in the country. A starter in his freshman season, Downs led Alabama with 107 total tackles as a sophomore and intercepted two passes. He's a sure tackler, has great instincts and covers like a cornerback.
Note: Judkins was named a second-team All-American behind Henderson and Ollie Gordon II of Oklahoma State. Burke was named a second-team All-American behind Will Johnson of Michigan and Travis Hunter of Colorado.
Comment No. 1: Ohio State will have the best backfield in America with Treveyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins.
Comment No. 2: I like Donovan Jackson. However, the overall performance of Ohio State’s offensive line will need to improve for him to be an All-American in 2024.
Comment No. 3: Tyleik Williams — RELOAD THAT MF CLIP.
Comment No. 4: I still cannot believe Ohio State landed Caleb Downs. He is a stud.
Comment No. 5: The Denzel Burke disrespect is insane.
Comment No. 6: Ohio State needs more All-Americans on that list (More... More!!). Emeka Egbuka? Jack Sawyer? JT Tuimoloau? Sonny Styles?
OK. That’s all the comments I have. Six comments is good.
“HE’S A SELF-MADE GUY.” After four seasons at Kansas State, Will Howard transferred to Ohio State, where he will look to lead the Buckeyes to a win over “That Team Up North,” win a Big Ten championship and the College Football Playoff.
A 6-foot-5, 242-pound quarterback, Howard completed 58.8% of his passes for 5,786 yards, 48 touchdowns and 25 interceptions across 34 appearances with the Wildcats. Those statistics don’t look great on paper. However, the overall numbers from four seasons can’t reveal the strides Howard made at Kansas State.
In an interview with Joey Kaufman of The Columbus Dispatch, Howard’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Kansas State, Collin Klein (now the OC at Texas A&M), called Howard a “self-made” player who has improved each year he’s played college football.
Unlike his predecessors at the position [at Ohio State], Howard was not a blue-chip recruit out of high school, ranked as a three-star prospect and needed several years to grow into a signal caller who could reach this stage.
“He’s a self-made guy,” said Collin Klein, the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Texas A&M who had previously been in the same role with Kansas State.
In 2020, Howard was named Kansas State’s starter due to injuries and a series of positive COVID-19 tests for other Wildcat quarterbacks. Thrown into the fire, he completed 53.6% of his passes for 1,178 yards with eight touchdowns and 10 interceptions in nine games.
In 2021, Howard backed up Skylar Thompson. In six appearances, he completed 54.5% of his passes for 332 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
In 2022 and 2023, Howard completed 61% of his passes for 4,276 yards with 39 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. As a junior, he helped lead Kansas State to a Big 12 championship, reclaiming the Wildcats’ QB1 title from Adrian Martinez, who had transferred from Nebraska and began the season as the team’s starter.
After he entered the transfer portal in November, Howard was considered one of the top available veteran quarterbacks.
Along with Ohio State, he drew interest from Southern California and visited the school last month. Lincoln Riley, the Trojans’ coach, has built a quarterback factory between USC and Oklahoma, mentoring three Heisman Trophy winners. The pursuit by programs with such pedigrees at the position was the latest sign of how much Howard had progressed over the years.
“Quarterback’s a developmental position,” Klein said. “It doesn’t matter where or how highly recruited you are or not. What work do you do? How do you work? How do you improve? How do you build the skills necessary to play the position at the level that maxes at your potential? Will’s a living example of just truly getting better every single year.”
Hopefully, Howard’s trend of yearly improvement continues at Ohio State.
With proven talents like TreVeyon Henderson, Quinshon Judkins and Emeka Egbuka around him, and young stars like Carnell Tate, Brandon Inniss, and Jeremiah Smith primed for breakout seasons, Howard seems poised to do so.
I can’t wait to see what he does with the opportunity.
WHEN A TROLL GETS TROLLED. ICYMI: Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin, a well-known rabble-rouser, trolled Ohio State with an X post that featured an article from Gridiron Heroics (a website I’ve never heard of):
REPORT: Ohio State Buckeyes Spent $13 Million And Counting In NIL Money In Attempt To Field Elite Roster - Gridiron Heroics https://t.co/DGcjTfBIch
— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) January 21, 2024
Why did Kiffin troll Ohio State? I’m not sure – probably because Quinshon Judkins chose the Buckeyes over the Rebels – but I’m not sure.
Whatever Kiffin’s reason, I’m not here to discuss him or his antics. I will, however, discuss one of the responses to Kiffin’s post, which came from Ohio State freshman offensive lineman Deontae Armstrong:
womp womp
— Deontae Armstrong (@DeonArmstrong30) January 21, 2024
Translation for the Old Heads (via Reddit):
“Womp Womp” is an onomatopoeia, also known as “sad trombone” or “wamp wamp.” The phrase, often used in comment sections on Instagram, TikTok and X, indicates failure or sadness.
The response made me laugh out loud on Tuesday, as Kiffin, a 48-year-old man who often acts 18 years old online, was trolled by an actual 18-year-old.
Deontae Armstrong, YOU are becoming one of my favorite players in the 2024 class.
Keep up the excellent work, good sir.
I’M IN THE WRONG BUSINESS. Ohio State will deliver $125,000 to a search firm that helped the school hire Ross Bjork as its next athletic director.
Collegiate Sports Associates (CSA) helped a search committee of several Buckeyes, including Archie Griffin, Clark Kellogg and Nadine Muzerall, among others, find candidates to replace Gene Smith, who will retire at the end of June after 18 years as Ohio State’s AD.
According to a copy of an invoice The Columbus Dispatch obtained via a public records request, CSA charged $62,500 for executive search services last October, and an additional professional fee of $62,500 will be due later in 2024.
When I saw those numbers on Tuesday, I realized I am... Well, I am in the wrong business. Apparently, the money lies in search firms. And easy money, too.
Before Bjork was hired, a source told Eleven Warriors that Ohio State had numerous candidates to become the Buckeyes’ next athletic director. Two of those candidates were Pat Chun (Washington State) and Heather Lyke (Pitt). Chun worked at Ohio State from 1997-2012, and Lyke from 1998-2013.
Ross Bjork will spend four months as a senior advisor to Gene Smith before his five-year contract worth $2 million a year comes into effect on July 1. https://t.co/rVeifuNYMb
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) January 17, 2024
Ultimately, the firm recommended Bjork to Ohio State president Ted Carter, and that’s great. Still, am I to believe some of the $125,000 Ohio State will have over to CSA was used to name Chun and Lyke as candidates? I could have done that for free in about two seconds. CSA did it for $125,000 in three months.
Maybe the search firm business is where it’s at... I'd love that kind of cash!
SONG OF THE DAY. “Need 2” - Pinegrove.
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