Welcome to the Skull Session.
The 2024 NFL draft starts at 8 p.m.
#TBT to this moment at the 2023 draft:
This moment between @CJ7STROUD and his family last year really gets you in your feels
— NFL (@NFL) April 22, 2024
: 2024 #NFLDraft Starts Thursday 8pm ET on NFL Network/ESPN/ABC
: Also streaming on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/b6BaCrSfEU
Have a good Thursday.
“I LOVE THIS JOB.” This week, Pate State combined with Ohio State. Yes, indeed. One of the Skull Session’s most featured college football personalities, Josh Pate of CBS Sports, recorded his Tuesday episode at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center in Columbus. His one-hour, seven-minute show included a 41-minute, one-on-one interview with Ohio State head coach Ryan Day.
The discussion between Pate and Day featured several different topics, including Ohio State's stellar offseason, new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, defensive coordinator Jim Knowles and what Day believes a “Ryan Day team” can and should be.
While all of those topics (and more) were excellent, one stood out to me more than the others. It had to do with how long Day wants to coach for the Buckeyes. His answer? “A long time.”
On his future at Ohio State
“I want to be at Ohio State for a long time. I know a big part of that is winning championships. That’s where all of my focus is and (the team’s) focus is right now. We love it here. It’s a great place. Columbus is a great place. The people of Ohio are great. We have to win championships here. That’s just how it goes. We’re gonna work our tails off to get that done and be here as long as we can. But when I think past all of that, I think about being around my family, my kids, (my wife) Nina, and doing what makes me happy.
“I love this job, but if you don’t win championships, they’re gonna find another coach. I get that. But at the end of the day, it’s about the impact you have on people and the platform Ohio State has to offer. It’s the impact you have on the kids and the staff. No matter how it all shakes out, I want to make sure I’m doing that. To me, you put two feet on the ground every day coming out of bed. What motivates you? That’s what motivates me. It’s to have an impact on people and help people and Buckeye Nation. But in order to do that, you have to win games, so we have to make sure we’re doing that at the highest level.”
On the pressure to perform at Ohio State
“When you’re at a place like Ohio State, you have 12 million fans. Even if 95 percent are feeling good about things, the five percent (that aren’t) is a lot of people — that’s some people's fan bases. It comes with the job. You have to have thick skin. That’s just the bottom line. What people see isn’t always reality about these things. But it’s part of the job. When you sign your name to do the job, that’s what comes with the job. Nobody is gonna feel sorry for you. That’s what I signed up for. That’s the way I want. I want people to want us to win every single game because that’s what we want and that’s what I want. I want to win every game. When we don’t, it is a failure. We have to make sure we’re doing that.
“That being said, the reason you wake up in the morning every day is to have an impact on people’s lives. Nothing makes me happier as a coach than to see my family happy and team happy, but also seeing Buckeye Nation happy and the fans celebrating on Saturdays after a win. That, to me, is something that drives me on a daily basis. I just have this vision in my head of us holding up the national championship or celebrating against the “Team Up North,” and Buckeye Nation, 12 million strong, celebrating on a Saturday night singing the fight song. Those are the visions I think about. It motivates you on a day like today in April.”
Man, oh, man. I hope Day succeeds this season and in the future. I really do.
This Ohio State team has the chance to be one of the greatest college football teams ever. I believe that. If the Buckeyes can find their quarterback and improve upon some inefficiencies on the offensive line, THE World Famous Ohio State Buckeyes will be World Famous once again.
Like Day, I can see the vision. Ohio State can win The Game, the Big Ten championship and the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff. I hope Day watches his dreams become reality this fall and all of Buckeye Nation, 12 million strong, celebrates together.
HE’S BACK! Now that the Heisman Trust has reinstated Reggie Bush and returned the former USC running back’s Heisman Trophy, the Trojans can claim eight Heisman winners all-time. That number breaks them free of their tie with Ohio State, Oklahoma and Notre Dame, all of whom claim seven winners for the award.
Heisman U https://t.co/LKUqfD0wLs
— USC Football (@uscfb) April 24, 2024
Here is a complete list of winners from each school:
USC, 8
- 1965 - Mike Garrett
- 1968 - O.J. Simpson
- 1979 - Charles White
- 1981 - Marcus Allen
- 2002 - Carson Palmer
- 2004 - Matt Leinart
- 2005 - Reggie Bush
- 2022 - Caleb Williams
Ohio State, 7
- 1944 - Les Horvath
- 1950 - Vic Janowicz
- 1955 - Howard Cassady
- 1974 - Archie Griffin
- 1975 - Archie Griffin
- 1995 - Eddie George
- 2006 - Troy Smith
Oklahoma, 7
- 1952 - Billy Vessels
- 1969 - Steve Owens
- 1978 - Billy Sims
- 2003 - Jason White
- 2008 - Sam Bradford
- 2017 - Baker Mayfield
- 2018 - Kyler Murray
Notre Dame, 7
- 1943 - Angelo Bertelli
- 1947 - John Lujack
- 1949 - Leon Hart
- 1953 - John Lattner
- 1956 - Paul Hornung
- 1964 - John Huarte
- 1987 - Tim Brown
While that’s an unfortunate Ohio State-related outcome of the Heisman Trust v. Bush decision (of which there are several positives, but more on that in a moment), the Buckeyes can still claim Griffin, college football’s only two-time Heisman Trophy winner. That’s, without a doubt, the greatest individual accomplishment in the sport, so Ohio State remains ON TOP.
WHY STOP THERE? The Heisman Trust’s (long overdue) decision to reinstate Reggie Bush came amid what it calls “enormous changes” regarding name, image and likeness rules in college athletics over the past three years.
“Now is the time to reinstate the trophy for Reggie,” Heisman Trust president Michael Comerford told Pete Thamel of ESPN in a statement. “We are so happy to welcome him back.”
Welcome Home!
The Heisman Trophy (@HeismanTrophy) April 24, 2024
We are reinstating the 2005 Heisman Trophy to the University of Southern Californias @ReggieBush!
In 2005, Bush gained more than 2000 yards from scrimmage and scored 18 touchdowns. He received 784 first-place votes, the fifth-most in Heisman Trophy history, while pic.twitter.com/34oCD7P8CY
While I understand that the Heisman Trust and NCAA are separate entities, I believe the question should still be asked: With the Heisman Trust reinstating Bush as a result of current NIL laws and legislation, when will the NCAA reinstate Ohio State’s wins from the 2010 college football season?
In July 2021, the “Tattoo 5” – Terrelle Pryor, DeVier Posey, Daniel “Boom” Herron, Mike Adams and Solomon Thomas – penned an open letter to the NCAA that called for the organization to acknowledge the team’s accomplishments. Almost three years later, the NCAA has yet to do so. However, does the result of Heisman Trust v. Bush change that?
The time has come @NCAA @OSU_AD @OhioStAthletics @Channel75live @DPo8 @BOOMHERRON1 #solomonThomas @AdamSchefter we should get our wins back records back and legacy of @JimTressel5 back and not looked past it! NCAA suspended us but let us play in the sugar bowl win vs Arkansas pic.twitter.com/pGpEvJCbx5
Terrelle Pryor SR (@TerrellePryor) July 13, 2021
The 2010 Ohio State football team had a 12-1 record, won a Big Ten regular season championship and won a Sugar Bowl. Pryor became a top-five career all-time passer for the Buckeyes, Posey a top-five career receiver, Herron a top-10 career rusher and Mike Adams an All-American.
All of those accomplishments happened. I watched them happen; you watched them happen. Still, the NCAA doesn’t acknowledge it.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
As the Heisman Trust did with Bush, the NCAA should reinstate Ohio State’s accomplishments from the 2010 season.
Would it be long overdue? Sure.
But it’s never too late to do the right thing.
TAKE THAT! H/T to The Duke of Weimer, an Eleven Warriors user, for the #content of this section.
This week, Sports Media Watch, a company that tracks television viewership for multiple sports across multiple networks, found that the difference in viewership between Ohio State’s spring game and Michigan’s spring game – both of which were nationally televised on FOX – was noteworthy.
Two weekends ago, Ohio State’s spring game, in competition from the 88th Masters, the MLB and NASCAR, attracted an audience of 660,000. This past weekend, Michigan’s spring game, in competition with the 55th RBC Heritage, the MLB and NASCAR, brought in 505,000. The Buckeyes also held a distinct advantage in in-person attendance for their scrimmage, as their 80,012 trumped the Wolverines’ 31,602 bigly.
Now, does that matter? No, not really. What matters is the result of a regular-season game between the two rivals on Nov. 30 in Columbus. Still, whenever Ohio State beats Michigan, it’s an absolute win, so I’ll take it.
SONG OF THE DAY. “Slow It Down” - Benson Boone.
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