Ryan Day talks about giving up play calling duties, how he could handle last assistant coach spot

Ryan Day talks about giving up play calling duties, how he could handle last assistant coach spot

coach I was hoping we’d get to meet the pride of Boston today can you confirm uh coach O’Brien’s candidacy at BC and and where that’s at yeah no no real updates there um you know he’s working today and we’ll kind of see how it goes he’s in the building he’s here today yeah right behind ading wbns what was it about Bill O’Brien that made him R hired here yeah I think at the end of the season you look hard at you know what kind of changes need to be made and as we know at Ohio State you know we’re chasing that you know one or two% right we’re we’re chasing that you know last couple drives of a game or whatever that is and um I felt like in that particular situation um for me to really be able to um you you know hand over you know a lot of the duties that that I was doing you know I really was looking for somebody who had um great background in the NFL um you know the SEC he was a former head coach he had been a head coach in in the league um and the experience um of developing quarterbacks was there so I just and then and then the fit culturally uh was the right fit so are you hoping to hand over play calling duties for this coming season yeah that be that’d be the idea uh let’s go far left Dave bidd 247 Sports Ryan have you joked with Jeff Halley that he’s on the verge of uh negatively affecting you twice yeah God dang um yeah it was not it was not good um but you know I’m I I I spoke to Jeff and you know happy for him that you know he’s got a new challenge ahead of him and um but yeah that was a curveball we were not expecting we were expecting a fast ball and got a curveball transfer portal could it have gone any better for you guys the Five Guys you got you six including Julie and then could you add maybe one more yeah I think I think last year we were at seven I think um you know right now we’re at six and I think I’ve said this before in in that type of situation we’re trying to do is we’re trying to uh fill needs you know we always want to recruit high school players and then develop them and I think we’re doing that as good as anybody in the country but when we have opportunities to to fill needs you know chip left you know so we’re able to bring in quinan you know there was um you know Kyle went in the portal so we were able to bring in will you know we’re trying to fill needs um but you know I think you know guys can you know see what’s going on here I think um you know even having someone like Davidson osen uh who was at Old Miss you know just to give a little feedback on what it’s like to be at Ohio State um you know for Caleb you he knew what this was he had relationships with Jordan hanock and some of the guys on our team so a big part of it is is it goes back to the guys that came back and I think that was the number one thing coming off the season is the guys coming back and seeing that they wanted to be uh with their teammates and reach their goals and to me that’s that’s where all this started so when you think about where JT and Denzel um you know Jack Ty laan trayon acha Donovan I mean these are all really high-end players who decided they wanted to come back and it wasn’t for anything other than their teammates their coaches the culture and and that kind of set the tone for all of it and then we started to fill in a couple of the pieces and like you said there wasn’t a lot it wasn’t big numbers but hopefully the guys we brought in can make an impact four middle tonyman Bucky um feel like there’s a five weeks worth of questions that we can ask you um a couple of things where do you see Sunny’s role now on defense is he moving the linebacker where do you see him playing this year yeah we um we’ve had conversations with sunny and and he has the flexibility to do a lot of different things which is great and he’s um embracing some of those things and so as we get into spring we’ll start to figure out exactly how those will all shake out but um that’s the one thing when you see Sunny he has um the flexibility to do multiple things not only because of his skill set in terms of his you know size but also his mental makeup and you know he’s really willing to embrace some of those different roles and that’s that’s exciting because it gives us a lot of flexibility with the defense and then is is Deon Brown good to go with his ankle for he is yep yep he’s um he’s had a really good couple of weeks um you know that quarterback room is is really uh interesting seeing their the dynamic there of a bunch of guys that you know I looks like they like hanging out together you know and it’s going to be a fierce competition this spring um but there’s already some camaraderie in that room and and and Devin um you know really has the most experience out of that group coming back and you know he’s shown really good leadership you know even you know coming off the last one a little bit of disappointing being injured and everything but he’s rehabbed well and um and he’s really done a nice job so far with Mick and excited to see the spring you always you’d like to have poor scholarship quarterbacks what’s it like now having five yeah we had to bring in some extra chairs I guess but um it’s it’s good I think it’s healthy and you know we say this all the time in recruiting if you don’t want to compete Ohio State’s probably not the right place for you and it makes everybody in that better in that room better but it’s not just there it’s at every position and um I think they’re all embracing it far left Nathan Barrett Cleveland I know Bill’s situation has left this kind of awkward um Purgatory that you’re in I guess but did you go into the process with a a template that you were looking for and he just happened to fit it and does that maybe inform what you’d be looking for if you had to PIV it to someone else yeah um there were certain things that you I wasn’t just going to make this decision and say well we’re just going to go in this direction I’ll you know throw somebody into that role it has to be the right person and I felt like you know after spending a bunch of time on it bill was that right guy uh for that right spot at that time um and so you know if if you know something were to change then we’d have to adjust from there but but that was uh something we you know spent a lot of time on to make sure it was right decided yet what you want to do with the the 10th position the the fifth defensive coach do you have a positional specificity of what you want to do with that yet no we have some flexibility there we’ve had multiple conversations I think we can go in a couple different direction CS um but we’re we’re still not ready to make a decision there yet uh certainly have talked to people and um you know probably about a week away there third row middle Dan 11 Warriors going back to the quarterbacks how are you going to manage reps this spring with having five scholarship quarterbacks yeah just going to try to get as many reps as we possibly can of Team reps seven on seven reps and um you know we need to get the guys as many reps as they can it’s not just a quarterback it’s at other positions but um you know that means he’ll be a lot of reps out there for the guys but um you we’re going to be smart this spring in terms of there’s C certain guys that have played a bunch of football and those guys are in a different situation than you know guys who just came in in January then you have guys that are in the middle there who have played some football but really need this spring to grow and build and so we’ll identify that as the spring goes on to see who needs what reps but when you have you know the quarterback room that we have we’re going to need a bunch of Team reps to make sure we’re developing these guys they’re learning the offense and uh you know for for Devin he probably has the most experience but Lincoln you know really doesn’t have a ton he didn’t hasn’t gone through a spring yet Will’s brand new to the offense uh a and and Julian are are in the same boat so we need to get these guys as many reps as we possibly can so um there’ll be some long practices do you feel like you need to give will a majority of those first team reps of him coming in potentially being a star what we need to do is figure out you know how many reps do you really need to get you know at at the end of the spring spring to you know be ready to move into the summer you know so whatever that is it’s it’s not a percentage it’s just like all right here’s what we need per practice and then we’ll make sure that we get those reps I also want to ask you about Tim Walton obviously he’s done a lot of good things for you guys recently as a recruiter what did you see in him coming from the NFL that made you believe he could be a successful recruiter first off it’s his personality and his makeup his character um I can’t say enough great things about Tim Walton um you know his back background of developing um secondary play in the NFL speaks for itself and the players that um he’s worked with and the testimony when you talk to the players you know they speak glowingly of what he’s done to help them the next thing was the fact that Tim played here he’s a buckeye and he wanted to help Ohio State you know win a championship and that was a big part of it uh but then when you get around them more you just realize you know he’s talented I mean he’s good in a lot of areas and um you know when you’re evaluating coaches you know the first thing is okay how are they on the field as a technician how are they schematically how are they with relating to players how are they in recruiting you know Tim does a lot of those things and so our guys um have embraced his mentality I think our secondary um is super competitive I think they want to you know compete in everything that they’re doing you watch him go through drills I mean they’re going at it with each other and I think you know that really reflects Tim’s mentality and I think you can see we have an opportunity to have a really excellent secondary this year and a big part of that is what Tim’s doing and then you’re seeing the recruiting that he’s doing so um I think all those things you know add up to you know Tim being the best secondary coach in America right mind Pat Murphy 247 Sports Ryan Dan was asking you about the quarterbacks when we talked to will he presented himself as the starting quarterback and I assume every guy you want that do you see him that way I know before sometimes you you let this play out but how do you view him given he has one season left yeah um you know listen will will came here to play football you know so you know I hope that’s his mentality you know and I hope all the guys have that mentality so um you know he’s going to learn the office and get going but he’s done a great job so far with the feedback a big part of um the quarterback play here is is what goes on in that that that weight room with Coach Mick you know the leadership and you know the way that you know guys work you have to build credibility up amongst your teammates and um and that’s a big part of it you know we talk to quarterbacks about this all the time talk to you know about you know to CJ when when he first went to the NFL I was like you have to endear yourself into that building and you have to earn the respect of the guys in the building and I think you know Will’s doing that you mention quinan in terms of uh kind of replacing guys but he’s a guy who has a ton of carries ton of yards obviously a little different situation than than what you had before how do you see that working out especially with tra on then deciding to to come back and you know maybe having two of the better running backs to the country well when it first um you know happened and and Quan went to the portal the first the first thing was you know talking to trayon um and you know what are your thoughts and he he was unbelievable you know if you think it helps the team coach then then let’s do it and then you know talking to Quinn Shan saying you know trayon you know is here and he’s coming back and he said well I’d love to go play with him I think he you know said that to the media last week and so I just think that both of their approaches are that they you know they can get each other better but it all started with trayon and I think tron’s leadership so far this year as he’s transitioned into his fourth year has been tremendous um the way that he’s gone about his work the way that he’s holding guys accountable he’s got a different look in his eye and I think that’s important you know he’s been in these games before he knows um but I’ll give quinan credit you know he he also is embraced what we’ve been in our cult culture in the next you know last couple weeks and we’ll see as it as it grows but um all the reports are that he’s doing a great job of simulating but but the whole running back room you know and D um you know James and Sam you know that’s that’s a heck of a room and there’s a lot of depth there and when I think about next season you you have the your 12 game regular season you have you know the Big 10 championship game and then you have the 12 team playoff I mean you’re talking about possibly maybe 16 17 games and so that’s a long run that’s an NFL you know schedule and so your roster needs to reflect that and you know having depth at running back will be very very important there’ll be there’ll be a lot of carries to go around Andy backr letter Brian we talked about CC being so crazy but what is January what was it like for you was there any kind of Playbook F like every day there was something new for you guys like any year you know you have to come off of the season and try to identify you know what’s important moving forward uh what’s important for the next calendar year what’s important for the next three years what’s important for the next 5 years and um and so always look at that to figure out what needs to be done and so you start off with your roster then you go to the staff and you just try to do everything you can to make sure that you’re making the adjustments that need to be made based on things you’ve learned based on what you’ve seen the past season and so you know as a leader it’s your job to put a a plan together and create a vision of what it could look like and again it started with these guys deciding to come back you know again lean Ransom and Denzel Burke and you know and then you know Jack you know decides to start you know talking to the guys about hey you know we we need to bring this thing back we need to go chase a championship next year there’s a lot of things that you know we need to do and you know then a Mecca jumps in and a bunch of guys you know JT and uh Cody Simon you know these guys all decide they want to come back that’s where that that was the the first step and then the next step was adding the pieces certainly you know making some tweaks at the staff um and that’s just the beginning now we have to go go to the spring and execute the plan it’s a long long road you know there’s no you know magic recipe to this thing other than hard work and we know it’s going to be a long run next January but um but that that was one thing that you know I felt like as a leader we need to put a plan together create a vision of what we want this to look like in the next month and go to work about executing it yeah and then one more thing about the quarterbacks just what are your initial impressions of air and then Julian coming in what have you seen from them and what kind of quarterbacks do you think they are yeah they’re just just getting started um it used to be that when you came in at mid year it was a big you know a significant um you know the fact that you’re coming in at mid year now it’s a little bit more normal guys are planning their you know sophomore junior year around graduating at mid year and it allows everybody an opportunity as they come in in the summer to not be a freshman anymore so everything that’s going on is new and so you know they’re going to have to embrace everything that’s going on new and um I think that’s that’s hard you know you got Julian who’s coming in from from California have a coming in from Georgia Georgia and when everything’s new there’s just there’s an adjustment phase and and that’s like that for every freshman and so you know they’re every day that goes by they’re getting more more comfortable here and getting their feet underneath them they’re going to have to learn the offense here and and get going on the field but uh but it’s great when you have like Lincoln didn’t go through that last year and we knew that you know Lincoln was a a tremendous basketball player and a tremendous baseball player and we sat down with the family and said we’re going to be a little bit behind here if we come in during the summer and we knew that so that was part of the agreement but but we knew that he was going to be a little behind uh I feel like with these guys coming in now they’ll be further ahead and be able to make more of an impact in the fall Cameron Robinson the athletic Ryan when you I think the Assumption when you went to the portal was that if you got a quarterback it’ be a graduate guy and come in when you decided to go after Julian did you have to have a conversation with the guys in the quarterback room or kind of what was that what was that conversation like yeah that’s that’s something I I try to really do a a thorough job of is making sure I communicate when we’re doing something like that um because this is not a a program that brings in you know 20 25 30 guys in the portal um but when we do you know um I try to share my thoughts on why try to communicate it and um you know for the most part guys embrace it um there’s times where maybe they don’t like it you know but I always feel like it’s it’s important for me to to communicate the best I can um not always perfect but I think it’s it’s important to do in the past you’ve been pretty vocal about nil support with the in with the program and and around this University in general have you is nil for you where you think where you wanted it to be I know it changes like every basically weekly now is where you want it to be right now think well like you said it changes all the time um boy it’s changed in the last year it changed um in December and it’s probably going to change again in May so it’s um it’s something that we all have to adapt to um and we’re working hard I think you know um you know everybody involved has been working really hard to make sure that where we need to be to be competitive and so um we’ll keep trying to adapt the best we can knowing that I’m sure there are changes coming again in the next couple months so um but but I think you know all that is very important but what’s most important is you know guys embracing the culture and knowing that when they come in the building every day they’re going to be part of a program that cares about each other got a great locker room got a great staff and you know got a a fan base that’s going to support them Jeremy Birmingham the podcast right uh it’s day um oh yeah joins the class obviously kind of unique recruitment um didn’t really get talked about much or or really even evaluated until middle of the senior year because of injuries and mov all that what made him a good fit for you guys when you decided in December late December that you needed another defensive LEL yeah um we felt like like you said with the injuries and things it was a little bit late but um we saw um somebody who has a lot of talent and then you know uh Larry spent some some time with him and then we brought him down on a visit spent some time with him around here to see about the fit and I think that’s what’s important is the position coaches and Mark do a lot of the evaluating and let me before I forget to do this you got to recognize Mark Panton and the work that he’s doing and some of the stuff that uh he’s really adapted his job has changed so much in the last couple years and uh he he’s killing it right now and so you know his he and his staff deserve a huge shout out here um because of some of the work that’s been done the last couple months but but going back you know it’s it’s Mark and his staff and the position coach’s job to identify the best they can can this player play for us talent-wise and then you know it’s my job as the head coach to see if he’s a fit culturally um and make sure that this is a guy that you know can Embrace what it means to be a buckeye you know being in Ohio State’s not for everybody and I think when Dom came down you you quickly see that this is what he wanted he wanted to be a buckeye he’s from the state of Ohio he understands the Rivalry there’s a lot that that was positive there he knows he’s going to have to come in and work and compete and you know just like all these guys we say hey if if you want to come in and start day one this is not the right place for you now you can start day one we have guys who have done it but it’s it’s not going to be guaranteed you’re going to have to earn everything that that you get here at Ohio State and um and he was willing to do that he wants to come in and compete and um so excited to see what he you know how things go with him when gets here but he won’t be here till the summer is it different for a kid like that from Ohio who who waited I mean he was committed to Washington he decided not to sign a month ago which was not at your behest right is it does it mean something different when a kid like that gets added late do you guys feel it different in the building well I guess when you look back at the last month there’s been it’s it’s just unique I guess in where college football is like you said here’s somebody who’s committed to Washington there was a coaching change there there was a coaching change at Alabama There’s been coaching changes across the board which creates this ripple effect but in particular to Dom uh you know we we’ve had guys I guess in the past that have been in the same boat who um you know in these type of situations you evaluate their senior film and you go off of that who want to be at Ohio State and you know that that recipe’s worked it has um you know a lot of guys we recruit early now we go off of their sophomore film we go off their junior film here’s somebody that we made the decision based off their senior film and that’s just more confirmation he’s the right fit Joey cofin Columbus Dispatch you mentioned your considering your options for that that 10th spot philosophically where you at as far as whether you want to have a full-time special teams code that’s something you’ve had every year since you’ve been here you can have a fulltime guy you can divide up those responsibilities just where you at sort of proess and all that yeah um you know there’s a lot that comes into that last spot um and I think both of those options are on the table I feel comfortable going either direction um but finding the right guy is going to be what’s important and you also m m g um you mentioned he when that was announced he could have some additional responsibility that include special teams what do you what do you think the H over theall yeah I think Matt brings a diverse background in terms of his you know he’s been a coordinator he’s excellent teacher uh he also has been here before so the guys you know laan and um you know some of the older guys knew who Matt was so it’s not just a brand new addition to the staff um I think he’s going to work really well with Tim back there he knows um Jim’s system very well and so um that’s going to be seamless he he knows the system but in terms of his help on special teams we’re going to see how big that is but I feel like you know Matt really is a great teacher he’s very intelligent he’s been a coordinator before so um you know we’ll see based on how that 10th position shakes out how much responsibility he’ll have Austin Ward podcast right it’s a new experience to have like SEC coaches accusing Ohio State of having too much money or spending too much money um you comfortable with that like do you did you find that weird bringing up the old comments from two years ago about the payroll and size of all that well I just think um recruiting is always going to be competitive it is and and so um that’s just you know kind of how it goes and um you know we’re always trying to bring in the best talent we possibly can but also the right culture fit for Ohio State and I’ve said this before you don’t just bring anybody in here um but all these guys wanted to be here I think that’s probably the most significant you know Caleb wanted to be here quinan wanted to be here will wanted to be here um you know these weren’t situations where um you know certainly you have to recruit but we want guys who want to be here because in the portal nowadays if they don’t like it they can just leave so a big part of that is opening up our doors and our players um you know really recruiting our guys and and that’s you know really where I think over time you know we’ve built a culture of development we’ve built a culture where guys enjoy being with each other and and that kind of recruits itself over time and so you know we’re counting on that to continue to you know build us some momentum in the future but uh but we know recruiting is very very competitive and you know it’s our job as coaches certainly as the head coach to acquire as much talent as you can and then you know go develop it that all in line with the same philosophy it feels like that you’ve always had is there a change in your I guess the feels like well Ohio State’s being more aggressive and maybe that’s not the right term for it the size of the class is not different than a year ago as you said is there administrative support is there different nil support is there a different mentality for you that went into because it it just it does feel different this year even though you’re describing the same thing that you have from years past I think the the administration’s been unbelievable um I think Jean’s been great you know and and certainly you know had conversations with Ross and and you know President Carter has been great you know but um and so that that that’s been huge that you know have that type of support has always been great um but you know I just think that across college football right now it’s just in a very unique situation when you see you know some of the coaching changes and then you know we ended up adding three guys from Alabama just there’s a lot um going on right now and so you know our guys again I think it it all goes back though to our our players coming back there’s nothing more important than that and so we can you know talk about the recruiting we can talk about nil we can talk about all that but ultimately you had a bunch of guys who wanted to come back and finish a bunch of business that wasn’t finished at the end of last year and and maybe you know the guys across the country recognize that you know they see our guys you know they want to be part of our program um because of you know these guys and I can’t give them enough credit because to me I I know we’ve added some pieces but the guys who decided to come back to me that’s the real story how much larger was that group of guys coming back than you would have projected um I don’t know I don’t know I I always felt like like you know Marv was was a top five pick and that that was probably going to happen um you know although that wasn’t like a done deal right out of the gate either you know I think you know it’s hard when you work so hard towards your goals and you come up short um to just walk away from it and um I think that goes to show you not only how competitive our guys are but how much they they recognize what being a buckeye is and how much they want to be able to come back into this building when they’re older and be proud of of winning championships and being on the walls and all those typ of things and um and so I think that’s really what it came down to in the end um could these some of these guys have gone on to the NFL yeah they could have and they probably would have been drafted fairly High um and so when when you have a bunch of guys like that that that shows a lot about the character of these guys and how much they’ve embraced being in Columbus being Buckeyes because some of them are from Ohio like Jack and you know some of the guys but like not all of them you know they’re from different parts of the country but I think think having the guys from Ohio they understand what it means to be a buckeye and they that’s their job to make sure they understand the Rivalry but now they’ve lived it they know what it’s like and that’s different when you know your Donovan Jackson coming from Houston or your you know JT coming from Seattle you know now you know after a couple years of being in the Rivalry and being at Ohio State and coming up short you know you you want to leave here with something in your pocket something you’re proud of and I think that’s what’s reverberating through the for the building right now so far left Whitney Harding WC ran I’m actually going to excuse me jump off of that um you’ve talked so much about the guys coming back you just it what does it say about the personality of this team every team every year is a new personality but these guys coming back what does it say about the personality the drive of 2024 yeah um I think it’s still being forged um and I think it’s easy for coaches to put a bunch of slogans on shirts and and do those types of things uh we’re just trying to work we know it’s a long run to next year um and so you know we’re not getting too worried about some of that right now what we’re trying to do is just just just work just keep building this thing keep growing have a great spring and it’s it’s it’s a long journey to next year um and the more veteran you are sometimes the more you recognize that you you you want to all of a sudden fix everything in a month they can’t be fixed in a month this is a long road to the next year and I think our guys know that I think our staff knows that um but um but there’s there is urgy see there’s a great look in their eye and um so we’ll see we still got a lot of a lot of Runway out here that we got to continue to work through but um but the good news is we got the right guys in the seats and and that’s what’s important you said you’re here at Ohio State you’re always trying to get to the next level how does Caleb DS help you do that with this defense that was already amazing last year yeah Caleb’s um you saw what he did as a freshman um you know to say you know we’re all excited to have him part of part of the the program is an understatement um he brings a lot to the table you guys will learn that you know won’t get into all that right now but his talents um his talent is is exceptional but you know he’s already created an unbelievable amount of discipline in his life he’s created the skills to play the safety position at a high level um but I’ll tell you it’s fun you know because that’s secondary I mean they’re competitive now like they’re not going to take a backseat to anybody so um everyone sat up a little straighter when he walked in and that was good but they embraced him you know he he knows those guys to the recruiting process um so it’s going to be some some uh some great competition this spring but you know he is very very talented and and you know what do you have 107 tackles as a freshman in the SEC you know so I mean my goodness it’s gonna be fun Steve hellwagon 247 Sports yeah coach talking to will Howard it seemed like the timeline for him he settled on you guys and you guys may have said it on him a few weeks before it actually kind of went public I suppose and he admitted that he put it off or didn’t want to preempt the bowl game and different things like that just can you speak to maybe that whole process and was he a guy that you guys as soon as he went in the portal I don’t want to say before the Michigan game or you know after the Michigan game whatever that he was a guy that you guys were targeting yeah I think when you look back on December and you know the the coaches had a meeting U at our conference and just talked about what December is like and um you know first off having to go on the road having Signing Day um preparing for bowl games now we’re gonna have to prepare for the playoffs the portal being open I mean December uh is really a nightmare and the way that it’s all designed right now is is chaotic um that’s all kind of a blur quite honestly to me like that how that all played out um but you have to try to have contingency plans in place for things that happen whether it’s you know at certain positions whether it’s in your coaching staff because things change quickly as we as we’ve we’ve learned and we’ll continue to learn um and so and I think that’s what’s really important is that you know it’s our job as coaches and my job as the head coach to continually make the right decisions for planning ahead to sustain what we’ve done and now obviously chase that top you know 1% 2% to finish off some of these games at the end of the season that we need to do um and and reacting uh but not overreacting as well um and so you know you have to have contingency plans in place but you also have to make sure that you’re you’re being transparent and um and I think we we found that balance Brian process coach belch retires and Bill’s now available and uh in that process I presume you talk to other people so if in the possibility that Bill O’Brien leaves can you go back and have conversations with other people like what would that look like I know this is all supposition yeah no I get it I get but that’s what we’re talking about contingency plans yeah um yeah but again it isn’t just one of those situations where you just you know take take out one guy and put another guy in there and it’s like okay move on it doesn’t work that way so um but yes you know we we did talk to different people for that position and um you know we’ll have contingency plans in place hopefully we don’t have to go down that road um but if we do then then we’ll adapt last thing I want to ask about offensive line uh seem to be the Achilles heel obviously in the bowl game uh maybe the thing that could hold you back from winning the national championship if it’s not addressed just in your mind what is the plan and they’re going to go against a great defensive line again this spring and are you hoping to get through that and then make some decisions I guess yeah yep um you know just having bill just you know watch the film and and see our guys out there and and having you know he knows Seth adding that piece to the puzzle uh was critically important but just you know the feedback that that you know just a fresh that eyes what do you see he he sees he sees some Talent he sees some guys who um are are are good and he sees depth he sees some young guys out there so like you said like we’re going to have a really competitive spring and kind of see where we’re at um but you know the idea right now is that we have enough to go win a National Championship with the guys that we have in this building right now um we come out of the spring and recognize that we don’t then you know we’ll have to go from there but there are some really good young players in that in that room and there are some guys now coming back with some experience and that that should matter going into next season Mitch Stacy Associated Press all Ryan um Mitch you talked about the uh the issues involved in getting quarterbacks enough reps in Spring and even in the preseason to determine who your starter is I mean what’s the philosophy of adding these guys and putting Five Guys in in the quarterback room when I mean I I how are you going to be able to evaluate I mean there there’s just not enough reps I’m guessing right um yeah we’re going to try to do everything we can to get him as many reps as possible certainly the the Julian thing was not something that we planned on you know when you sit back at this time last year you don’t say okay here’s how we’re going to we’re going to look at this point next year but when it became a situation that was available we felt like it was something that we could really um enhance the room and so we we did it um and we’ve had situations before where that that room has been crowded but the cream usually Rises to the top on this thing and so U we’re going to do everything we can to get as many reps as possible and then rely on you know myself Bill our experience of of you know seeing quarterbacks over the years and recognizing the trades that it takes to be a starter and figuring that the cream that doesn’t rise rise to the top was probably going to hit the transfer portal at some point I mean we don’t really focus on that you know but um you know we’ll just kind of focus on you know developing the room and we go from there um because we can only control what we can control and um I think that’s part of the process right now it’s just the way things are with the portal is you can’t control you can’t hold somebody back you know if they want to go they can they can go in the portal and that’s part of um you know being transparent in the recruiting process knowing that each room is going to be super competitive and then we try to adapt the best we can from there andy Anders 11 warriors uh yeah uh going back to the offensive line have uh have there been any conversations with Josh Fri about potentially looking at him at guards this year and uh iess I guess uh where where does he stand yeah um yeah Josh has a little bit of a swing capability there so you he’s going to be on the right side right now and we’re going to um you know take a look to see what the right combination will be on the right side now that we lost Matt um you know he’s going to play tackle he’s going to play a little bit of guard and and we’ll kind of see how that shakes out as as the spring goes on but he does bring some some flexibility there which I think is good for his long-term football career as well um you know going on to the NFL and and you know going onto a team and being able to play guard and Tackle is is valuable um so we’ll see um there’s certainly things that I think you know being a first-time starter there this year that he did well but certainly areas that you know if we’re going to reach our goals he’s going to have to improve on he knows that um but but playing guard is something that we’ll we’ll take a peek at this this spring and see if if that’s right but his feedback is important too you you have to want to embrace these type of things just like with sunny you know you know it’s the same thing when you know Cade made his move steel made his move when guys make those moves you really want guys to take ownership of it you know not just because the coach has told you to do it so his feedback will be important he’s been in the program for a while and you know he’s a guy that has leadership and and leadership capabilities which as we know is important because if you know if we’re going to win games in November December and January it’s going to start in the offensive line then where as far as that right side goes where are Tegra and Luke at as far as competing Big Spring yeah huge huge spring for both of those guys and that’s not the only guys I mean there’s a bunch of other guys in that room this is a huge spring for the for them and um and even the guys who came in in the summer I think about Lincoln I think about Aral I think about some of these guys that have had a whole spring to really go to work on so excited and the more reps those guys get just like the quarterbacks need the better and um we’ll have a better idea of it but having you know Matt drills having some of the uh workouts and the runs and all those things will allow them the opportunity to you have a year of experience under their belt you know physically they way need to be mentally will they need to be learning the offense and defense and um and I think that’s I’m hoping this is the most competitive spring we’ve had since since I’ve been here um but you know we’ll see right behind him Tom MO last time we were in here with you we got to watch you process the Jeremiah Smith news in real time um took a little while before that tweet came in I think the next morning maybe what was that day like for you and then what have you sort of heard about Jeremiah um you know since he’s been here yeah he’s um he’s jumped right in uh you guys have seen the talent the talent’s there I think the thing that’s been most impressive to me so far is his discipline that he’s already built in his life and then the skill of playing the position at such a young age as well and we in hard and and everybody will continue to build on that and grow on that but um has had a great approach so far so certainly expecting big things from him yeah that that that day was a long day it was a crazy day um haven’t had one like that before but but you’re also talking about you know the number one recruit in the country and in terms of bringing in a play caller obviously there’s some that’s going to impact your life a little bit during the week yeah in some of the late game kind of moments where Notre Dame Notre D’s got ball you’re trying to manage a clock you’re trying to figure out how much time you’re going to have you’re all that stuff how much is having someone whether it’s Bill or whoever else to fall how much does that help you with just handling all the stuff in your head and multitasking all of the all the stuff in your head in those kind of close and late moments yeah it’s a good question I I think the first part of the question was how much will it affect the dayto day I think that goes back to you know how much will I be involved with special teams you know based on you know uh the office coordinator role you know and and so that that will affect a little bit about the 10th position um but yeah in game I I feel like when when you’re calling the game um you have an idea of okay should you go for it on Fourth and two well is it a do you have a good play it’s one thing if you don’t have an idea what the play is is you just go for it well then you don’t have a good play um I feel like when you’re calling the game you’re a little bit more of control of the situation you know what’s going on you can you know if you don’t like the look you can call a timeout you know there’s just so many more things when you’re actually calling the game that you’re in control of um but I do think um you know having somebody else call the game will allow me a little bit of of a step back and see things from a wider lens of okay how’s the defense go how’s it going with the defense the Special Teams overall kind of step back a little bit and have a little bit of a different perspective there’s pluses and minuses to both situations you know we can sit back and look at you know stuff that went on in the playoffs you know our game you know when do you go for it when you not go for it decisions that are made and listen we can second guess all those things but I do think being able to step back will give me a little bit of a wider lens on things um but there’s a lot of guys you know who particular in the NFL who call it who are also making those decisions in game and I think they do a great job so um I think you have a good feel for what’s going on in the game you have a little more control um I guess sometimes you can get a little bit laser focused on what’s going on in terms of the play call as opposed to maybe sometimes a situation um so I think those are the pluses and minuses of that okay now on Sports Illustrated Ryan um maybe building off that a little bit how hard was it for you to give up play calling or to you know say that your attention if it’s well haven’t done it yet um so we’ll see but but I I I know that um that that is an ideal situation moving forward I know that it has to happen um there’s so much that’s going on right now in college football uh do I want to no I don’t I love the football part of it I love calling plays I love being in there but you know I’m I’m getting pulled out and I’m just not um you know on a on a Wednesday night you know thinking about what the call on you know third and four on the 21 yard line you know in the third quarter of a game like those are all the things you rehearse in your mind it takes a lot of work and I know that my energy and time and all that stuff needs to be in other areas is and um especially with everything going on right now across the board just with the team and the portal and nil and just all those types of things so um I know that’s the right thing to do but now making sure the right person’s in place was critical when we hired Bill uh certainly don’t want to put words in your mouth but from the outside looking in it feels like there is a different sense of urgency just around the program right now is that accurate I mean there’s always urgency here you know um if you don’t believe that you know try losing a game you know I mean that’s just the way it is um so you know we always have urgency but um I think you know it goes back to the guys that decided to come back he’s talking about six or seven guys who are probably projecting the first three rounds decided to come back and then you’re seeing you know a bunch of momentum that way but I think it goes back to again the type of culture that’s here and listen you know you look at the last two years you know we’re a play or two away and but it didn’t happen and so it’s just it it hurts it stings it all the above and and so we have to figure out a way to to chase that last you know few drives of a game to go finish it off the way we’re supposed to and um you know when you sit here in in February it’s such a long way away to get there but um it’s motivating our guys and and there is a great sense of urgency in the building one you know in Justin’s last year and CJs last year I think you alluded to the fact that you felt like you had a championship level roster the reason you fought so hard to play in that Co year it’s obviously early you reference a quarterback competition do you have some of those same feelings about this particular roster right now I do I do yeah Spencer let ran you always talk about extraordinary traits with quarterbacks is it harder to identify an extraordinary trait um with a guy that you’ve never had in the system recruited or was that easier to find with will now that you’ve got three or four years of film on I mean you go to the film and you try to identify with with the film U particular with will I like his competitiveness I like his toughness uh I think you know Mick would tell you that he sees that every day in the weight room right now um he’s a guy who won the Big 12 Championship he’s a couple couple you know a field goal or whatever away from beating Texas this year um he’s got a you know mature approach about him um and you know he’s got the ability to throw the football he can you know he needs to run he can run um but he’s big you see the size of when he gets up on you he’s a big guy um so there’s a few things there that that um you really can grab on to you went into the portal and got Seth and Caleb their last game was in the Ros obviously against against Michigan you guys take that game so seriously uh what were the conversations like with those guys about that and understand the Rivalry did you think that it was a little easier for them to understand the Rivalry considering they just had their season ended by that team as well yeah no they they they verbalized that you know then so they were able to to get on board real quick with that um in particular Caleb knows I mean he went through this thing we were right down to the wire at the end with with with Caleb so he knows but then um but Seth as well coming off of that last game you know they they know they know what’s coming at the end of the year stepen means cleveland.com I mean you just admitted this you didn’t really want to give up play calling but it just seems like and maybe this is fair or not college football isn’t going to allow you to be able to do that part the same way that you see in the NFL with head coaches who still call play yeah I mean there it’s it’s it’s become very difficult to do that yes so we were asking you questions about this a year ago and you hadn’t quite gotten there yet about when did you get there that you actually have to give this up this time even if it’s clearly not something you want to do cuz I mean it’s like playing mad in real life right yeah no I mean it’s it’s not something you just wake up one day and decide it it take takes a little bit of time and you know what’s right but at the same time like we’re not just going to put somebody into that spot and say hey now you go take the offense like that that is not going to work so it had to be the right fit and that’s why we spend so much time on this and being thorough and that’s bill you know checked all those boxes for us so in those meet how does your time get spit split up do you envision when the season starts and how much you’re meeting maybe with the offense maybe how much you’re meeting with the defense and just all the other things you have to do in a 24-hour period yeah I think that’ll be something that’s new for for me um right now it’s more of you know continuing to do what we’ve done with the Ohio State offense but then blending some of Bill’s ideas and being in there to make sure that we can connect the dots but then it’s time goes on you know kind of stepping away a little bit being in the room when when things are going on but being able to step out and then getting into the defense giving them you know some some thoughts from a different perspective um that’s one of the things about being on offense is you have to become an expert at what the defense is trying to do and some of the things that can create problems for the offense and being um just a sounding board in there and talking through that but also being around the players more and being a part of special teams Front Row billin Columbus Dispatch uh Ryan a little more than I guess well month and a half ago uh probably the lowest point or a very low point after the cotton bow um how different does it feel now in terms of just the mood in the building I mean keeping all those guys getting the transfers hire Bill O’Brien maybe um how different is it feel inside the building um I mean I I don’t know about different you know that was very unique situation you know when when Kyle decided to go in the portal and then l was in Deon Hurley and there was a lot of things a lot of Dynamics not having Marvin there and just I guess the way college football is now and going into that um so um certainly that wasn’t fun but and we knew regardless of what that game looked like what we needed to do moving forward and that’s um you know quickly was the was the U the focus and you know our guys you know quickly recognize that but you know when you come off with something like this it’s you know takes a little time and um you know Cody and then Jack and then you know some of the guys started all right let’s go guys let’s get these guys together and that’s really what it came down to as we focus on on next season and um I think there is a lot of excitement around it I think the guys feel it every day in the building so um you know now we got to go execute it all you know but it’s a long way till next year um but certainly you know the the right guys are in the right seats um and so that’s that’s exciting um and and just fired up to see what this spring looks like with these guys on the field talk about EMB ing the pressure that is coachin Ohio State you know Michigan loses hardore they lose up their nucleus all the pressure is going to be on you next year how much do you Embrace that that there is an Allin feel even though obviously you don’t lose all your chips if you don’t win it all but there is there is that kind of feel I mean again I would say it’s like that every year um and I watch CJ strad get up there and say that pre pressure is a privilege and I think he’s so right about that and you know we have an opportunity with an unbelievable team to go attack this thing next year here and that’s what it comes down to and um you know to see you know the fans and Buckeye Nation um you know kind of buzzing over the last few weeks about this team and getting behind this team and building it I think the guys feel it a long way away from the season but you know press pressure is a privilege and these guys have an opportunity now to go have a great season um knowing that that’s a long way away and there’s a lot of work to be done but again when you look at the team we got the right guys in the right seats right now now you know what kind of leadership do we have you know there’s a lot of things that now we need to go attack but um but I think we all Embrace that and that’s why we’re at AIO State one one of those additions Seth you talked about them a little bit how important is it to have a center who’s experienced and and can handle that because that’s the captain of the of the offensive line yeah um when you have you know guys who have been you know in the program before it helps but but just having guys who have played football before at Center um you know quarterback back is is critical um when you’re looking to um you know win every game which is what we’re trying to do so uh he’s played in the SEC Championship he’s played against you know really good players in the SEC he’s been a part of a great program so he brings something different to the table and I think it’s actually been good for our guys to say so how is it different than what you did at Alabama you know because you don’t those guys don’t know and you know they get a little bit of feedback there and they it it’s good it gives them a little bit of a different perspective and reference point and I I think those guys have embraced not so much Julian because he was only there for a little while but for Seth and for Caleb um even quincha and some of the guys who coming from a different program uh to say okay here’s what we did there this is what’s different here and um so that’s been good for our guys Maurice Kings of the north um you mentioning the idea that maybe you would be involved more with special teams how did you maybe come to that thought process and it does feel like sometimes there are head coaches who do that sort of of right let you get your hands on bunch of different parts of the team that’s it that’s it um you know when you feel like you know you’re you’re able to step away a little bit from the offense you’re able to be more involved with the Special Teams which allows opportunity to be more around the players in in this type of setting here we do our special teams meeting in this this team room right here uh and you know also allows you an opportunity as you know someone who’s managing the game you know to have an idea of when it’s time to maybe block a punt return those type of things so um ideally that’s what you know I’d like to do but we’ll just keep keep putting one foot in front of the other and andap from there and just to clarifying again you don’t know exactly what’s going to happen if if it would wind up would you hope that you would have someone you have faith in and would trust to be the offensive play caller even if Bill O’Brien’s not here that that then you would be able to hire find another person that you would proceed with that play that would be the idea but again not just going to you know put somebody into that spot just because you know it’s a spot you know yeah and then um you made three coaching changes this off season two of the guys were promoted from within that you let go one was an outside hire just as you’ve grown as a head coach what have you thought of the decisions you’ve made in putting stats together what have you learned what do you think is the right balance between internal guys and external guys just where are you at hiring well I think going back to at the end of the season you have to identify what are the things that we’ve got to make changes on and then you kind of figure out how it all fits together from there and you know what are the things that are going well what are the things that you’re trying to project um might be an issue in a year or two down the road um and you use feedback from from the guys on the staff use feedback from the players to try to do the best you can and um you know we’ll see how it works we we’ll know around this time next year how it worked but um you know try to trust your instinct on it and and utilize the the info you’re getting from the guys you know that you trust and um but you also have to identify the things that need to get adjusted and I think that’s the key is you know reacting but not overreacting you know and I think that’s not always easy to do here you know because um you know when you lose a game there can be a lot of panic and what I try to do is make sure that I’m not doing that and just making sure identify the things I need to get fixed and get them fixed so that we’re in a better place at this time next year time for a couple more questions coach thank you so much for all your time today Tim May Tim May podcast and Letterman Ro uh thank you Jerry uh you may have been asked this while I was in my traffic jam but uh at the beginning I just remember distinctly Eli drinkwitz putting it eloquently uh in that in that pre-cotton bow press conference about why he stepped away from you know playb you know play calling ETA and gave it to somebody because he owed it to the program about everything else that’s going on you seem to be listening intently to that I’m just and I’m just wondering did that help you get to where you are today or were you already headed that direction you you understand what I’m saying yeah yeah no I was already you know I think remember a year ago I was still I was still kind of going down that road it didn’t quite work out that way uh but but I knew as the season was going on what needed to happen um but again the key is finding the right guy and because it’s one thing to make that move but if if it’s not the right person in the right spot that doesn’t do us any good I this is Ohio State like we we we cannot can’t have a bad day we’re not allowed so it’s a very very unique person who you know I mean let’s call it for what it is the expectation here is we score 60 every game you know and when we don’t you know it’s like what what happened so um you know that’s a very unique person who has a tremendous background and and there’s a lot that comes with the season you know it’s all about building towards the end of the season and then winning the games to the end of the season I think that’s something sometimes that can get lost here like you know playing in the Big 10 is not easy there’s going to be you know we have to play on a road there’s going to be some of those trap games there’s going to be things along the way that we have to do we know that next year we have a great schedule we have eight home games we got to play out Oregon got to play at Penn State and then we get the last one at home and so it’s it’s a heck of a schedule but we know it’s going to be it’s going to be a buildup towards those games and so we have to have you know um a great idea of where our identity is but playing our best football at the end of the season and making the right assumptions along the way and um you when you come to Ohio State it’s it’s Unique than some of the other places it just is and um you know like I I think about like when when Jim got here his first year you know did a great job but then you look at way he was in year two and I we’re going to be even better in year three I can tell you right now and it was the same thing you know when I got here you learn a little bit in year one as a coordinator you learn a and then you know you understand what you’re working towards towards the end of the season that’s not the way it is everywhere else it’s not like that in the NFL it’s not like that at other schools across the country so it’s a very unique person in that in that situation and so we had to find the right guy and we’ve watched you grow as a head coach at least I have I mean you know because you hadn’t been a head coach uh is and and Stephen I think asked you this a while ago but it would seem like the the funnest thing you ever would get to do would be to call plays I mean you understand what I’m saying I mean uh you almost stepped away from that last year like you talked about and stuff but now I mean what do you find the most fun in other than calling plays you’re if you follow my drift of your job what in this day and age of I wouldn’t call anything right now fun you know what I mean it’s just it’s just it’s it’s what you do um satisf yeah you know fun will be winning next year but um I it just you adapt you have to change and I I understand the reason why I had this opportunity is because what went on on the offensive side of the the ball but then that’s not the role that I’m in anymore you know and I have to make that adjustment and certainly understand that and embrace it I think the the thing that you have to um you know really love is is the interaction with people driving people and whether it’s the players on the team the staff and and you know being a leader and being steadfast moving forward and not um you know not you know rocking the bat being steady in the boat that’s kind of the term that I use all the time when you know all the seas are kind of Rocky You Got to Be steady in the boat and and I think as a leader you have an opportunity to show your character in defining moments and I think that the guys appreciate that I think that’s probably the thing that I have learned the most and so um I think we have the right group of guys coming back we’ve added some good pieces and the staff is is coming together we’re almost there and so you know we put everybody in in this room right here and we go we go swing towards next season so um you know just because you know it’s a different role doesn’t mean it’s any um you know less fun or more fun it’s just a different role and everybody has to embrace their role I think that’s the other part of it you know is you got to if you’re the running back’s coach or you’re the secondary coach you got to be the best coach in the country and I say at Ohio State if you can’t do it here where the heck you going to do it you know if it’s you know like what what Tim’s doing right now he Bia best in America like if you can’t be Bia at Ohio State where else you going to do it you know I mean if you can’t be wide receiver you like where else you’re going to do it you know and so I challenge our coaches all the time like when you come to Ohio State if you can’t do it here you can’t do it anywhere and so um that’s where we need a bunch of guys who are experts at their position and my job as the head coach is a little bit different than maybe it was a few years ago are you are you close at all with James La ni or do you want to see another year out of him and stuff I mean like I was talking about on radio this morning I mean the biggest change for anybody becoming an assist a full-time assisted coach is the recruiting aspect of things and stuff Have You Been impressed by him in that role I mean just what’s your take on that aspect I have I’ve been very impressed I think he’s got a really bright future in coaching he’s been doing a couple years but playing has allowed him an opportunity to give him perspective but he also has credibility with the with the guys and so U he’s had an opportunity and that that was a part of it too is being able to get on the road for a couple weeks and he had never done that before because he didn’t come up as a coach so that was good for him to get out there and and he’s done a really nice job and you know he’s a he’s a big asset and you know we’ll kind of figure out what that all looks like moving forward but but I’ve been impressed with his ability to coach because it’s different than being a player one last quickie do you have a a special or favorite Clay Hall story you know he’s retired I heard I heard yeah when did you announce that clay I don’t know no no klay’s been great klay’s been a he’s been a gentleman you know and I know everybody has a job to do here and you know sometimes that means being critical of the head coach and I get that uh but play Clay’s always been a gentleman and um I know he’s going to be missed around here appreciate you clay you we’re going to let him have the last question but first bill Landis Kings of the North and the podcast Ryan how much do you and Bill kind of speak the same language in terms of you know terminology scheme or is there any kind of adjustment there and then what what will the dynamic be between you know here’s the Ohio State Playbook call it from here or how much autonomy does he have to you know add to that enhance it yeah you know it’s been great for him to come in and and you know kind of learn what we’ve done so there’s a reference point there and then Infuse some of his thoughts and ideas and tweaks to say wait a minute you know cuz when you’ve been a system for as long as we have we call it this but that doesn’t make much sense well it’s because in week seven we just decided to call it this well let’s let’s kind of reorganize that nothing needs to be touched in this area this is good and it’s great to come in with a different perspective to say all right this may if I’m coming in and I’m you know last year you know Josh Simmons so why do we call it this well it’s be no no it should make more sense and so uh having Bill come in and saying you know this would make more sense sense in terms of teaching it this way um has been excellent and so we’ve had those type of conversations um you know we’re not all of a sudden going to change the terminology or what we do and I think that’s important as well because you know you just never know when a coordinator is going to be here when he leaves so we can’t go changing the offense because um you know you just don’t how things are going to shake out um but um but at the same time it’s it’s great to have some of that collaboration and I think I’ve always watched Bill and what he’s done I watched what with the Patriots I was like you know obsessed with that and what excuse me what they did there but I also what he did with with the Texans and deshan Watson there you know uh those first couple years and I studied about their empty package and what they did and and then obviously watch very closely what he did at Bama so there’s just a very diverse background there and a lot of respect over the years um I think on both ends you he watched what we did here so um it’s been great so far it’s been great and with Will Howard was was funny to me we talked to him last week he’s a guy that has a thousand career rushing yards and he says like I don’t really fancy myself that much of Runner um how did you guys evaluate that skill set on film and he watched it do you have an idea yet of how you might Embrace that with him one of the things we got to do to win the last game of the year is run the football and in order to to do that you want to have somebody that at least needs to be accounted for in the Run game if the other defense says well he’s not a threat at all to run that certainly uh changes the angles changes the numbers leverage all the above and so that was one thing that I wanted to make sure we had and I think when you look at the guys we have on our roster right now they all have the ability to do that started with that then from there okay uh how do they throw the football what’s their size what’s their intelligence all those things but we wanted to make sure there was enough of it doesn’t need to be running around doing all kinds of you know Running With The Ball but needs to be able to at least be account accounted for uh by the defense is Caleb DS a day one starter well you I mean was a freshman All-American I think he was a second team All-American so um he’s certainly um um will be hard uh to beat out but hey you know you got to come and compete you got to earn it nothing’s going to be given nothing ever has been given I mean that goes back to when Justin came in you know Justin Fields I mean he had to go earn it and you know we’re not going to change that um here at Ohio State now he’s tremendously talented and you know um excited to make sure um you know we give him as many opportunities as he possibly can in all different areas too um you know you saw him as a punt returner um I watched them play in a high school game against Buford and he was running the ball and so we even talked about that you know as you know maybe lining him up on different things so uh there’ll be a lot of opportunity uh next year for Caleb DS coach thank you very much just cuz you’re retired can you talk about the pride that you feel and RJ getting that Marshall offer can you discuss oh uh yeah I’m I’m I’m proud of him um yeah and and he earned it you know and um he loves football and and he’s obsessed with it and so from when he wakes up in the morning to when he goes to bed at night that’s all he thinks about so you know I’m happy that he got that one I’m sure there’s a lot more to come from there yeah thanks

Ohio State coach Ryan Day met with reporters on Wednesday and discussed Bill O’Brien’s candidacy for the Boston College job, giving up play calling duties and how he may handle the last assistant coach vacancy on his staff.

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