Skull Session: Josh Pate Calls Ohio State and Michigan’s Rivalry “Immune” to Losing Significance, James Franklin Calls Hiring Jim Knowles “A Twisting, Turning Process”

Welcome to the Skull Session.

Ohio State hoops is back in the win column!

Ohio State shot 61.1% from 3 and trounced Washington 93-69 to open a three-game home stand on Wednesday. https://t.co/jlGPcYZFB6
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) February 13, 2025

Have a good Thursday.

THAT DAMNED SMILE. Good morning.

I made a meme.

(H/T No Context Ohio State)

“THEY’RE LYING TO YOU.” Ohio State’s loss to Michigan hurt. Of course, the Buckeyes winning a national title softened its blow, but it still hurt. For those who claim otherwise, Josh Pate of CBS Sports shared an impassioned message on a recent episode of his college football show: “They’re lying to you.”

“Any Ohio State fan that’s telling you, ‘I don’t care we lost the Michigan game because we won the title,’ is lying to you,” Pate said. “The appropriate way for them to say it would be, ‘I do care that we lost to Michigan, it was just made less gutting because we won the national championship.’”

I think that’s a fair take.

I think this is, too:

“There’s a thought out there that because that happened, the impact of this game’s outcome is devalued. Ohio State fans, in some cases, have tried to make that argument. They don’t really believe it,” Pate said. “They do believe that winning the national championship softened the blow. They don’t believe that the outcome of The Game doesn’t matter anymore. No serious Ohio State fan believes that, and certainly no serious Michigan fan believes that if the shoe was on the other foot.”

Yes, the outcome of The Game matters. The outcome of The Game will always matter. (However, it does not place an asterisk on Ohio State’s national championship. That asterisk is reserved for Michigan’s title, which came after Connor Stalions spent almost three whole seasons cheating to benefit his beloved Wolverines. But I digress.)

“There’s a thought out there,” Pate said, “that we’re headed toward a world that – since you’ve got this big safety net under you and can afford to lose that game like Ohio State did but then go win the whole thing – maybe the result of the Ohio State-Michigan game is not quite as impactful, it’s not quite as noteworthy, it’s not quite as important, or there’s not much urgency on the game.

“Time will tell on this, but if we get to a point where that’s happened, it’s one example of the College Football Playoff ruining the best parts of college football. Because the best part of college football is not the playoff, to me. The best part of college football is Saturdays in the fall, and more specifically, the best part of college football is rivalry Saturdays in the fall.”

Here’s yet another fair take. In fact, this is more than a fair take – this is a great take: Pate said the CFP could never ruin The Game.

“I don’t think that’s where this rivalry will ever get,” Pate said. “I do think the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry is sort of immune to this. I think the real ones on both sides of this rivalry understand how important the rivalry is.

“I know you’ve got some Ohio State fans right now – I’ve had some in my own social circle — who want to be kind of smart about the whole thing and say, ‘Well, we lost the Michigan game, but when that confetti was raining down I wasn’t thinking about the Michigan loss.’ Well, of course you weren’t. You shouldn’t be. What kind of psycho would be winning the national championship game and focused on the games they lost?

“But five years from now, when you look back on the season, there ought to be a little hole inside you. You ought to feel great about the season – what this team just did was awesome – but if you’re an Ohio State Buckeye and you want to reach the top rung of the ladder, there is no world, there is no season where you accomplish the ultimate without beating ‘That Team Up North.’ There’s no world if you’re a Michigan fan where you can accomplish the ultimate without beating that team in Columbus, Ohio. There shouldn’t be. Rivalries should be that important.”

“IT WAS A TWISTING, TURNING PROCESS.” From the moment Jim Knowles was named a Broyles Award finalist in 2021, the defensive coordinator became a dream hire for James Franklin — or so the Penn State head coach told Rich Scarella of the Scranton Times Tribune this week.

It wasn’t until after Ohio State defeated Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff national championship game that Franklin added his dream candidate to his staff.

“It was a twisting, turning process,” Franklin said Tuesday. “I think I got a call at 5:40 in the morning two days after the national championship game. That’s when I thought that it may be real, that we may have a chance.”

Less than a week later, Franklin hired Knowles. More than that, he made the 59-year-old the highest-paid assistant coach in college football thanks to a… **smashing hammer on my head like a Tex Avery character**... three-year deal worth over $9 million. Franklin thanked Penn State president Neeli Bendapudi and athletic director Pat Kraft for helping him make the deal happen.

“When you’re able to go out and compete with who we competed with to get arguably the best defensive coordinator in college football, I’m very, very appreciative of that,” Franklin said. “I know there’s a ton of excitement from our players. There’s a ton of excitement from the fans. There’s a ton of excitement from our alumni and lettermen.”

Knowles will replace Tom Allen as Penn State’s defensive coordinator. Allen left State College to take the same position at Clemson, where he will lead the Tigers’ defense and be closer to his two daughters and several grandchildren, Franklin said. (I have to respect that move from Allen, even if I don’t respect Clemson.)

According to Scarella, Penn State pursued USC defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn, a former Penn State defensive back, before it went after Knowles. Lynn decided to remain with the Trojans, who offered him a new contract and a raise.

“There were guys that you thought maybe you could get and then couldn’t,” Franklin said. “We looked at NFL guys and college guys and kept narrowing the list. I hadn’t made any offers and then this became a possibility.”

A Philadelphia native, Knowles said in his introductory press conference that he’s thrilled to coach for his childhood team.

“Penn State, for me, growing up in inner-city Philly, was the epitome of college football when I was a kid,” Knowles said. “I was never talented enough to make it to Penn State as a player, but given the opportunity to do it now as a coach, it’s really where I want to be to continue my career.”

THE ART OF DEFENSIVE COACHING. Penn State replaced Allen with Knowles, and Ohio State replaced Knowles with Matt Patricia.

The Buckeyes’ hire has received mixed reviews in the past 12+ hours, as some love it and some hate it. For those in the latter camp, Eleven Warriors film expert Kyle Jones shared this video with our team and said it could increase confidence in Day’s decision to hire Patricia: