Skull Session: Ohio State is the “Apex Predator” of the NIL World, “Culture” Must Prevail for Buckeyes to Win 2024 Title and a Look at Ohio State Sports Illustrated Covers Through the Years

Ohio State football’s winter workout posts continue.

Lab work pic.twitter.com/DMDLiwQyDC

— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) January 24, 2024

Fight to the pic.twitter.com/YyM4mDr84J

— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) January 24, 2024

Have a good Thursday.

 BEFORE WE DIVE IN... Jim Harbaugh will be the next head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers.

Jim Harbaugh is leaving Michigan to become the head coach of the NFLs Los Angeles Chargers. https://t.co/MUwRgXAGiS

— Eleven Warriors (@11W) January 24, 2024

Good riddance, Khaki Man.

You are the fourth consecutive Michigan head coach to leave the program with a losing record against Ohio State.

You will not be missed.

I hope the NCAA vacates the past three seasons of Michigan football, and you never win a game as the Chargers head coach.

 THE APEX PREDATOR. Ohio State’s offseason moves have impressed Josh Pate of CBS Sports. So much so, that he spent 13 minutes discussing the Buckeyes and their recent transfer portal on “The Late Kick.”

Here’s a video and transcript of Pate’s monologue, in which he shares that Ohio State has become an “apex predator” in the NIL world, therefore making the Buckeyes a favorite to win the Big Ten and College Football Playoff in 2024:

“Ohio State looked around and saw maize and blue confetti fall out of the sky a couple of weeks ago and said, 'Alright. Game on.' They looked around and said, 'We're located in what? Columbus, Ohio? We have how many deep-pocketed boosters? You can what legally in this sport now?' ... Ohio State has gone on an absolute super-market-sweep rampage of the transfer portal. Ohio State, once a program I would reference on this show as not a big NIL player, has all of a sudden become the apex predator of NIL players in the game.

“Caleb Downs is now an Ohio State Buckeye. That was earthquake news because everyone was convinced he would go to Georgia. ... That's a huge deal. Then, you add that on to the fact that they got Will Howard from Kansas State, Quinshon Judkins from Ole Miss and, since then, have landed Julian Sayin. ... Ohio State has added seven five-stars from the portal or recruiting in this cycle, more than the rest of the Big Ten combined. You understand what I said? That's with Oregon, USC, Washington, and UCLA. Ohio State has now acquired more five-star talent in this cycle — portal and recruiting combined — than the rest of its conference combined. They've acquired more than Bama and Texas combined.”

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Ohio State’s 2024 five-stars compared to other Big Ten schools, Alabama and Texas:

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“Seeing Michigan win a national championship did something to these people. Desperate times call for desperate measures. But Ohio State doesn't need to mortgage its entire future to do this. Those are some of the deepest pockets in the sport in Columbus, Ohio. They could afford to do this. ... Unlike years past, when Ohio State would look down its nose – and maybe rightfully so – at some programs down south that trafficked in this stuff when it wasn't legal, you're allowed to do it now. When the current structure of the game affords you the opportunity to take advantage of a talent-acquisition mechanism, they're doing it.

“It's another reason I don't say, 'A Ryan Day team can't do this, can't do that.' The very nature of a Ryan Day team continues to evolve. What a Ryan Day program is continues to evolve. They won with defense [in 2023]. Who would have thought they would win with defense two years ago? They could have one of, if not the best defenses in the country [in 2024]. Nobody thought a Ryan Day team would be that two years ago. Nor did anyone think a Ryan Day team would take a sledgehammer to every nearby ATM to do what they're doing in NIL, but they are. ... What does this mean? ... It means they are the overwhelming favorite to win their conference and maybe win the national championship this upcoming year.”

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Indeed, Ohio State should be considered one of the favorites, if not the favorite, to win the Big Ten championship and College Football Playoff next season.

That will put immense pressure on Ohio State to perform week in and week out in 2024. But as C.J. Stroud once said, “Pressure is a privilege.”

Go win it all, Buckeyes.

 GOOD WORK, BUCKEYE NATION. When Pate said Ohio State has become an “apex predator” in the NIL world after Michigan won the College Football Playoff, he didn’t share an opinion — he shared a fact.

This week, Laine Higgins and Jared Diamond of The Wall Street Journal interviewed Drew Esler of The 1870 Society to learn more about Ohio State’s NIL movement since Michigan defeated Washington in the national championship on Jan. 8.

Ohio State’s holiday season was straight out of a nightmare. First, the Buckeyes lost a heartbreaker to Michigan, costing them a perfect record and a spot in the College Football Playoff. Then they had to watch from home as Michigan, the rival program up north so despised that no self-respecting Ohioan will even utter its name out loud, won the national championship.

But in the weeks since the Wolverines stomped on the souls of Buckeyes fans everywhere, a strange truth has emerged: Michigan’s victory might have been the best thing to ever happen to Ohio State football.

Buckeyes supporters have responded to the carnage of the past two months in a way that perfectly encapsulates the state of college sports in 2024. They have donated exorbitant sums of money to entice top players to transfer to Ohio State and reap lucrative endorsement deals—the fastest path to reload a roster in need of reinforcements.

This surge of fundraising in the wake of Michigan’s success has resulted in several stars from other programs decamping to Columbus, upending the power structure of the Big Ten and returning Ohio State to its usual status as a serious national championship contender. And the money that helped make it happen was given with a singular goal: to ensure that what just happened with Michigan doesn’t ever happen again.

“You never want to see your rival hoist the trophy,” said Drew Esler, vice president of operations for the 1870 Society, an organization that aims to raise money from fans to fund endorsement deals for players. “Instead of complaining, everyone’s put their money where their mouth is.”

The 1870 Society, the newest of Ohio State’s three booster collectives, is funded through one-time donations and recurring gifts from members, who can join by giving anywhere from $1.99 to $5,000 per month. The group’s member base spiked after Michigan’s championship—Esler approximated that 60% of the collective’s 2,500 members have joined since Jan. 8, the day the Wolverines knocked off Washington in the title game. 

You created funds for 2024 recruits Jeremiah Smith, Eddrick Houston, Mylan Graham, Aaron Scott Jr. and Air Noland. You created funds for seniors TreVeyon Henderson, Emeka Egbuka, Donovan Jackson, JT Tuimoloau, Jack Sawyer, Tyleik Williams, Denzel Burke and Jordan Hancock. You created funds for transfers Will Howard, Quinshon Judkins, Seth McLaughlin, Caleb Downs and Julian Sayin.

You deserve some praise.

Maybe Ryan Day can send you all a “Thank You” card.

Keep up the excellent work, Buckeye Nation.

 COUNT ON THE CULTURE. OK... so... basically.

Ohio State has had one of the best offseasons ever. Should we still have concerns about the Buckeyes’ chances to win it all?

According to Ari Wasserman of The Athletic, the many new faces on Ohio State’s coaching staff and roster could present some “culture” questions that the Buckeyes will need to address before the team hosts Akron in its 2024 season opener: 

Obviously, the wallet opened up a little more than usual for Ohio State [this offseason]. Desperate times call for desperate measures, I suppose.

This is outside of Ohio State’s typical plan. Under the guidance of athletic director Gene Smith, Ohio State’s name, image and likeness plan has been driven toward paying the players who were producing rather than engaging in big-time bidding wars for high school athletes. Ohio State, obviously, was engaged in NIL discussions with high school athletes, but it always wanted to build a program through recruiting and supplement its roster with four or five guys through the portal to plug holes. This year, Ohio State landed necessary pieces in the portal for holes on the roster (Howard, Downs and McLaughlin), but the Buckeyes also landed a few luxury items (Judkins and Sayin).

It is funny to me that Ohio State just landed Downs — who seemed all but signed and sealed to Georgia — days after announcing former Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bork would be replacing Smith later this year. But this is the new world of college football, and the best programs are going to have to pounce on the available talent.

I’m very curious how it’s all going to work. When you have this many new faces in a locker room, it does present some “culture” questions. Day also brought in offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien and made some necessary staff changes, namely with special teams coordinator Parker Fleming. There are a lot of new pieces to this program.

But here’s the reality of the situation: Day is under a lot of pressure to perform. He can’t lose to Michigan again and he certainly cannot miss the 12-team College Football Playoff field. Heck, he probably has to advance to the final four, at least, for next year to feel like a successful season. Day has seemingly made all the necessary changes to his staff and roster to put this team in a position to win a title.

No excuses now.

For Ohio State to win a national championship in 2024, culture must prevail.

For me, “culture” is the least of my concerns for the 2024 Ohio State Buckeyes.

Almost all of Ohio State’s 2021 class will return for their senior seasons because of culture. A number of top high school recruits and transfers in the 2024 class chose to be Buckeyes because of culture.

Of the valid criticisms Ohio State fans can have for Day, his ability to create and sustain culture should not be one of them. In fact, that’s an area where he has thrived in his five seasons as the leader of the Buckeyes – which has included roles as Ohio State’s head coach, offensive coordinator and playcaller in the NIL and the transfer portal era.

Imagine how Ohio State’s culture can improve even more now that O’Brien can take the responsibilities of offensive coordinator and play-caller off Day’s plate, becoming a “head coach of the offense” in the same way Jim Knowles is the” head coach of the defense.”

Remember what Missouri head coach Eliah Drinkwitz said before the Cotton Bowl when asked how relinquishing playcalling duties allowed the Tigers to take a step forward in 2023:

“I wasn’t doing the best that I could for our football team. We have a sign in our building that says, ‘Do your job. Put the team first. Embrace your role. Put the team first.’ I wasn’t doing that. I wasn’t embracing my role as the head coach. I was trying to hold onto my ego of being the play caller. I needed to step back. The job of the head coach is to build this team, empower other people to do their jobs and really build connections from player to player, coach to player and our team to the university and community.

“It begins with investing in your guys. I didn’t have the time I needed to do that. So that really became my mission. How could I support our strength and conditioning staff? How could I be around our players more? How could I engage our coaches in a real way? How could I engage our players in a real way to create a more connected team? We needed to be more connected. … It really came down to me having integrity, not just talking about it but being about it and putting the team first and embracing my role as the head coach.”

If Day can follow Drinkwitz’s blueprint, the sky could be the limit for the Buckeyes in 2024.

 TIME AND CHANGE. Among all the reports about the death of Sports Illustrated, I loved the one from Forbes the most. Here is its lede:

First came the news.

Next came the shock.

Finally, came the covers.

The covers.

When I learned Sports Illustrated would soon cease to exist, I mourned the death of one of sports’ greatest magazines by looking at some of my favorite covers SI created and distributed throughout the years.

Many of my favorites were Ohio State-themed: One featured Aaron Craft, another Braxton Miller and another Ezekiel Elliott. Ah, the memories.

For those like me who will miss Sports Illustrated, I collected over 30 Ohio State-themed SI covers from 1960 to 2017 and organized them in a gallery below. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

 SONG OF THE DAY. “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” - Green Day.

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