Skull Session: Ryan Day’s Transition From Offensive Play-Caller to CEO Helped Ohio State Win A Championship, Will Howard Calls Himself a “Buckeye For Life”

Welcome to the Skull Session.

One week ago, Ohio State won a national championship.

I still can't believe it!

Our national champions pic.twitter.com/PGJfwAWZBe
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) January 28, 2025

Have a good Tuesday.

RYAN DAY, OHIO STATE CEO. It’s remarkable.

The season after Ryan Day handed over Ohio State’s offense to Chip Kelly, he led the Buckeyes to a national championship. Of course, that’s not the only reason Ohio State won the title, but it’s one of them – and an important one at that.

One of the more brilliant offensive minds in college football, Day humbled himself for the program’s benefit. He understood that as Ohio State’s head coach and play-caller, the Buckeyes were good. But as Ohio State’s head coach and CEO, the Buckeyes could be great.

“That was the key difference this season,” Joel Klatt said on his podcast last week. “I don’t think Ohio State gets through all the adversity that they were able to get through unless Ryan Day can be the CEO. If he’s calling plays, he doesn’t have the opportunity to sit down with the defensive coaches after the Oregon game and really go through the switches necessary, both schematically and philosophically, of how to make the defense better. The defense post-Oregon was excellent (and was) the best defense in the country.”

I agree wholeheartedly. (However, I would add that Day’s involvement on offense – both schematically and philosophically, as Klatt put it – benefited Ohio State, too.)

That’s on-the-field improvements, but what about off-the-field improvements?

“That is the No. 1 skill of a head football in our sport; it’s to build the roster, talent acquisition,” Klatt said. “He did that, and I don’t think he can do it as effectively if he’s worrying about calling plays all the time. This idea to give up your superpower, take more of a CEO role and do that as well as he did in the first year that he attempted, it speaks volumes for him.”

Yes, it does.

And it should in the future, provided Kelly remains in Columbus.

“Very excited to see a big smile on his face after the (championship) game,” Day said of Kelly last week. “For him to come and leave his head coaching position (at UCLA) to work with me meant a lot because he’s someone who’s a mentor to me. I would not be where I am without him. He has just a great feel for the game. He really helped me this year.

“I spent more time outside the quarterback room. Certainly, I was involved very much with the offense, but (having Kelly) allowed me to spread out a little bit and spend more time with the guys on defense. It was not as much as I would like to, but it was still enough for me to bounce in and out. I think it brought us all together.”

“IT’S A WAY OF LIFE.” Have I mentioned that I love Will Howard?

I have?

A lot?

Well, I don’t care!

This dude is a Walking W.

Here is the latest example:

"It's a way of life. It's about that blue collar tough, Ohio spirit. This year has completely changed my life."

Will Howard became a Buckeye for life and an Ohio State legend in one year.

This city means so much to him, He says he may even live in Columbus when he grows old: pic.twitter.com/5zC8wn2wFb
— Adam King (@AdamKing10TV) January 27, 2025

“It’s for life, man,” Howard said when asked about his love for Ohio State. “It’s more than just football. It’s way more than that. It’s a way of life. It’s about that blue-collar, tough Ohio spirit. This team embodied that so much. I’ll cherish this year for the rest of my life. This year has completely changed my life. I don’t know where I’m gonna end up living when I grow old, but Columbus, Ohio, is not a bad spot. I love it here. I am a true Buckeye for life.”

That’s my quarterback!

THE NEXT QB1. Will Howard is my quarterback. For now. Soon be off to the NFL, and Ohio State will have a new quarterback in 2025. In an appearance on 97.1 The Fan last week, Day said that quarterback will be either Julian Sayin, Lincoln Kienholz or Tavien St. Clair, not a transfer like Howard. (Big shocker, I know.)

“These guys are going to compete their tails off,” Day said. “We have some good quarterbacks in the system, and I shared with all of them that – and this was the week leading up to the national championship game – that they had an opportunity to watch (Will Howard in the championship game). That’s exactly what we’re looking for in a leader here at quarterback.”

Sayin is the frontrunner to start for the Buckeyes. This past season, the No. 20 overall prospect and No. 3 quarterback in the 2024 class appeared in four games (Western Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue and Tennessee) and completed five of 12 passes for 84 yards and one touchdown.

Kienholz and St. Clair come in behind Sayin, but not all that far behind.

The No. 194 overall prospect in the 2023 class, Kienholz looked like a fish out of water in the 2023 Cotton Bowl but has had 13 months to learn under Day and Kelly. That has to mean something for his development. It also has to mean something that he stuck around for the spring while Devin Brown and Air Noland transferred to Cal and South Carolina.

St. Clair was the No. 7 overall prospect in the 2025 class and the second-highest-rated quarterback to commit to Ohio State since Quinn Ewers (2021). He’s coming off a senior season at Bellefontaine in which he collected 2,536 passing yards and 29 touchdowns in 11 games.

“I told them, ‘When you guys come back in about two weeks, you gotta look different, you gotta walk different, you gotta act different because now you’re fighting to become the starting quarterback at Ohio State,” Day said on 97.1 The Fan. “We have some really talented guys in that room, and I’m looking forward to seeing what the competition brings.”

Same here, Coach.

MORE THAN A GAME. When Ohio State faced Iowa on Monday in the Schottenstein Center, head coach Jake Diebler and his staff wore shoes that each coach received from Nationwide Children’s Hospital patients as part of Coaches vs. Cancer.

According to Adam Jardy of The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio State assistant Luke Simons suggested involving Nationwide Children’s in the event. In addition to the Iowa game, the coaches will wear their customized all-white Nike shoes when the Buckeyes travel to Penn State on Thursday and No. 18 Illinois on Sunday.

“When you know that you’re wearing something that had some time and care invested in it by some people who are going through some hard things in life, it makes it feel a little more personal,” Simons told The Columbus Dispatch. “It connects you to the people right here in this city who love the Buckeyes. Just to walk out of that hospital and see the smiles of parents who go to the hospital every day to see their teenage or young adult and they say things like, ‘We watch every game.’ If that doesn’t give you a little bit of a sense of responsibility and help you understand what a platform and a blessing to be a Buckeye…”

Photo: Ohio State Athletics

The patients at Nationwide Children’s had 48 hours to complete their designs. They all watched the Iowa game.

“They are going to be ecstatic,” director of psychosocial services and program development Tammi Young-Salame said before the game. “They will be like, ‘That’s me! That’s my shoes! Show more!’ They’re going to be super excited.”

I hope they were.

And I hope they were glad to see Ohio State get a win for them, too!

SONG OF THE DAY. “Whole Lotta Love” – Led Zeppelin.