Skull Session: Ohio State Must “Reset” After Its National Title, David Pollack Calls Caleb Downs “A Different Bird” and Sports Have Countless “Unbreakable” Records

Welcome to the Skull Session.

Ohio State had a scrimmage on Saturday. Dan Hope had observations, Andy Anders named standouts, Garrick Hodge took pictures and I took video. Check all of it out!

Saturdays are for the Buckeyes pic.twitter.com/MR2h5kRsiD
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) April 5, 2025

... and, yes, the rumblings are true: Lincoln Kienholz outshined Julian Sayin.

Gasp!

Have a good Monday.

“YOU HAVE TO RESET.” Earlier this month, Ryan Day said Ohio State’s leadership committee expressed its desire to have fewer championship mementos around the Woody Hayes Athletic Center so the 2025 Buckeyes couldn’t live off the 2024 team’s laurels.

“They realized we didn’t win a national championship. Last year’s team did,” Day said. “That was a good start because that’s the right mentality to have. We’re going to start this thing from scratch and build from there.”

After looking back on some comments and quotes from players last week, it became apparent – if it wasn’t already – that Caleb Downs helped lead that forward-looking movement.

“You have to reset at some point,” Downs said on Tuesday. “The new guys that walked in (the Woody), they haven’t earned anything. We, as the new 2025-26 season, we haven’t earned anything. We really can’t take credit for anything that is up on the banners. We can’t take credit for winning anything at this point. We have to compete every day to be able to put ourselves in a position to have the opportunity to get to that point.”

While Downs said the current team can’t take credit for the former team’s championship, the former can learn valuable lessons from the latter, Downs said.

“The lesson learned (from last year’s team) is you have to continue to work,” he shared. “Last year, we continued to stack bricks and get better every day. I think that’s why we came out to be where we were. You have to push to be exceptional every day. It’s not really helping if you’re just looking at stuff from last year. The spring has been good for that because we are turning a new leaf and we have new faces around here. We’ve got to make plays with who we have.”

I wrote it two weeks ago, and I’ll write it again: I love this mindset.

Ohio State wants to defend its throne.

That desire starts with Day and leaders like Downs.

Time to run it back.

“HE’S A DIFFERENT BIRD.” Speaking of Downs, the All-American defensive back received high praise from a College Football Hall of Famer last week.

David Pollack, a former linebacker at Georgia and former ESPN commentator (the Worldwide Leader made a Worldwide Leader move and laid him off in 2023, even though he was one of the network’s best analysts), said Downs is on track to have a Hall of Fame career at the next level.

.@OhioStateFB fans have a legend in the making with Caleb Downs

Better appreciate every minute he's in Columbus! pic.twitter.com/dcSbQPnIvq
— David Pollack (@davidpollack47) April 4, 2025

“He’s a different bird. We’ve known that from the jump. Last year at our golf tournament, him and his dad came and played. He read a book while he played. He’s not a typical kid. This dude is very hyper-focused on what he wants to be—”

“Dialed into greatness,” Pollack’s podcast co-host Brent Rollins interrupted.

“Yeah, I mean, he’s not into the messing around,” Pollack continued. “And then you watch him play and you see that, too. It’s no nonsense. It’s not about the celebrations and the dancing; it’s about winning. He had a big part in why (Ohio State’s national title) happened. He’s been trained, but I think he’s been trained by his daddy super well, and I think he’s been raised unbelievable. He’s got a chip on his shoulder, an edge to him and a brain capacity that’s – he’s just special. He’s one of those guys who’s gonna go in the NFL right away and be great, and he’s gonna be great for a long time and probably have a Hall of Fame career because he’s just that kind of guy.”

Man, oh, man. I cannot thank Nick Saban enough for retiring in January 2024. His decision created several gifts that keep on giving, with the best of them being Downs wearing an Ohio State uniform!

A HALL OF FAMER IN MY BOOK. Hall of Fame this… Hall of Fame that… All this Hall of Fame talk makes me want to watch Remember the Titans. No matter, the Hall of Fame theme continues in this section as I honor Bill Conley for his induction into the Central District Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Congratulations to the CDFCA Class of 2025 Hall of Fame!

These legends will be celebrated at Planks on Parsons on Wednesday, April 23 at 7PM!

These icons have impacted thousands of lives and created innumerable memories! pic.twitter.com/JrhENWODnh
— CDFCA (@OhioCDFCA) April 4, 2025

While most around these here parts know Conley as a former Ohio State offensive lineman and assistant coach, I know Conley as a friend from work. Conley is a contributor at Buckeye Sports Bulletin, the almost-45-year-old newspaper and my employer before Eleven Warriors. I interacted with Conley a handful of times in the old BSB office. I also “four-banged” his columns during the 2021 football season. (That term sounds much worse than it actually is. Please contact BSB publisher Frank Moskowitz for an explanation of the term’s inception, as I cannot explain it.)

Regardless of whether one knows Conley as a player, coach or friend from work, we can all appreciate his impact on football in Central Ohio.

After his Ohio State career ended (1968-71), Conley started coaching at London in 1974. Over the next 15 years, he collected a 78-39-3 record at London (1974-77), Groveport (1979-81), Middletown (1982-83) and Dublin (1988-90). He also had stints at Ohio State from 1984-87 and 1991-2003, as well as Ohio Dominican from 2010-15.

Conley’s success earned him the Hall of Fame nod this week, and to that I write: Cheers, Bill.

HELP WANTED (OR NEEDED). After Alex Ovechkin broke Wayne Gretzky’s goals record on Sunday, a debate occurred in the Eleven Warriors Slack over this question: What is the most unbreakable record in all of sports?

ALEX OVECHKIN IS THE GREATEST GOALSCORER IN NHL HISTORY! #Gr8ness pic.twitter.com/NKef3VvNaJ
— NHL (@NHL) April 6, 2025

Some Eleven Warriors writers argued for Gretzky’s assists record (1,963) and points record (2,857), while others argued for Cy Young’s wins (511) or Joe DiMaggio’s hitting streak (56).

Those marks scratch the surface for records considered “unbreakable” in football, basketball, baseball and more.

How about…

Emmitt Smith’s 18,355 career rushing yards
Jerry Rice’s 22,895 career receiving yards
Tom Brady’s 102,614 career passing yards
Tom Brady’s 737 career passing touchdowns
Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 points in a game
Wilt Chamberlain’s 50.4 points per game in a single season
LeBron James’ 50,000-plus combined career points (regular season and playoffs)
Cy Young’s 749 career complete games
Nolan Ryan’s 5,714 career strikeouts
Cal Ripken Jr.’s 2,632 consecutive games played
Ricky Henderson’s 1,406 career stolen bases
Ricky Henderson’s 138 stolen bases in a season
Barry Bonds’ 762 career home runs
Michael Phelps’ 23 Olympic gold medals (or 28 total Olympic medals)
Simone Biles’ 30 world gymnastics gold medals
Jack Nicklaus’ 18 men’s golf major championships
Florence Griffith Joyner’s 10.49-second women’s 100-meter dash

Finally, I have to include the record from my favorite basketball player of all-time, “Pistol” Pete Maravich: 44.2 points per game (career) and 44.5 points per game (single season) at LSU.

So tell me… what’s the most unbreakable record in all of sports?

Settle the 11W debate in the comments.

SONG OF THE DAY. "Hall of Fame" - The Script featuring will.i.am.