Is this Ryan Day's Best Roster at Ohio State?

[Music] what's going on Ron the Buckeye roast is back in another morning I cut you off good morning good morning yeah we are back for another episode of The Buck ey Rose Q is fixing his camera it's becoming a daily becoming shorter every day like like my co-host is shrinking he's gonna be gone I'm just gonna be doing the show with a purple light by the end of the season but we are here for another episode of the Buckeye roast and guest week continues another action-packed show big shout out to chimy checka joining us last week or last week yesterday man wow this it's been a long day I guess yeah Chim joining us yesterday today on the Pod yesterday a lot of good discussions about um coach Trestle the current state of the Buckeye program Ryan Day all kinds of good stuff so if you missed that show yesterday be sure to check that out and a big thank you to chimy for joining us make sure you check out his podcast believe and Buckey's podcast on the believe Network so make sure if you haven't checked that out you like comment subscribe and show some support we really appreciate him joining us yesterday Q yeah but we got some special guest today so let's go ahead and get him in here from the best Dam pod in the land we got Chad and Dan up here what's up fellas what's going on how's it going thank you for joining us today yeah thanks for having us guys we uh become big fans now that you guys have rebooted again for the season and uh try to catch you every morning yesterday was great it's always great to hear from uh former players get a little bit of insight info absolutely we want to let audience know a little bit about you guys we met on the timeline i' I've seen chat on the timeline probably about as long as I've been a buck eye fan one of the first Buckeye fans to really support the content that we do always seeing him in the notifications and then you guys started your pod so tell us a little bit about your guys Buckeye background and how your guys pod got started okay sure uh well I actually had a pod before this pod that was just me uh but I've been a buckeye fan my uh mother-in-law and my dad are buckeyes so I've been to more games than I can count since the time I was you know like seven or eight years old I was really trying to figure that out what when my first game was but uh so yeah it's just it's in the blood I've had it you know done it for a really long time love it I love the Buckeyes obviously and then uh I put a thing flyer out on Twitter one day and I was like hey I'm adding a co-host is anybody interested and Dan messaged me and we had a teams call and we just hit it off we were like it was like we' known each other for like 50 years or something and so that's how our pod came to be the name is a tribute to the band actually so the best damn pod in the land is a tribute to the Best Damn Band in the land and then Dan I can hand over to you man for anything about your history and everything yeah I know so I um you know I wasn't really up to speed on the whole Buckeye pod world you know up until probably about 18 months ago and I started listening to all of them and then a certain uh burn the boats tweet that I saw on Instagram uh directed me over to Twitter and I saw Chad's post and you know I was always uh interested to see what this was all about but uh yeah I mean I'm originally from right outside Cleveland I lived in Brooklyn Ohio until I was about 13 and then I moved out to where Q is currently residing out there in Arizona was out there for a while and uh yeah huge Buckeye fan favorite memory um 03 Natty I lived out there at the time and uh it's a story for another day but uh huge memory for me out there got my brother out there and we were able to be there for the game don't give away Q City the groupies will be after [Laughter] him looking for I will definitely appreciate you guys joining us I gotta keep tradition and give a shout out to the first person in the chat y'all let goo in here first and let him get the first chat in so shout out to GMO everybody go check out the category 6 podcast you're doing good work over there so don't let it happen again don't let goo be first but definitely shout out to him everybody go ahead and like that video and if you're on Twitter go ahead and hit that like retweet um if you were in the community do that as well if you're not let us know so we get you in there and uh podcast don't forget Apple podcast you got an iPhone I know most of y'all do go down there leave a five star review and then on Spotify do the same Ron you got any notes before we jump into it no let's get it started okay so I got some pre-show topics for college football news the allame or the preseason All-American list dropped yesterday so I'm going to give you who made it from Ohio State we have Caleb DS Denzel Burke Donovan Jackson AA bua trayon Henderson Ty Le Williams and quinan juin so those were the six that made either the first team second team or third team and I didn't know they had this list but JJ made the preseason freshman All-American list which isn't that just recruiting ranking how you make that list I think DS Caleb DS was a preseason All-American freshman All-American L I believe yeah I did I did not know that list existed but so my question I'll start with you Chad who on the team is most likely to make the All-American list at the end of the season that was not among the six of DS Burke Jackson egbuka Henderson Ty Williams and quinan Jacks w [Music] um Davis Digos okay give some reason uh I I just think he's poised for a bre breakout year and I probably stole Dan's answer I see him glaring at me but no I I think he's probably the most overlooked part of our secondary and Dan and I hammered on this on one of our shows that like he kind of when he came in he came from the in from the SEC kind of changed the culture in that room a little bit he's uh Dan always likes to say he's kind of handsy but like he's just he's he's a dog dude and he he just I think he is poised for a huge year um I like how physical he is and Denzel Burke gets all the pub and then you know we bring in Caleb downs and you bring back that the rest of that secondary um he just kind of gets overlooked and I think he I think he's goingon to have a huge huge ear I like the I just like the player that he is I like how physical he is I like his build he's long and lean for a corner uh Big Year coming for Iggy okay Dan go to you next yeah you didn't take it I was worried you would my um my dark horse is uh Josh Simmons another I um you know haven't been able to see him during those first four practices what he's done with his body he always had the tools right he's got the feet he's got the hands um very very athletic very talented you know he was just in a you know a bad program and uh his development from year over year compared to what his narrative was coming into last season uh has been great but what he's done with his body I mean I heard somebody say he dropped 17 points in body fat like that's that's crazy he looks like an offensive tackle he looks like a Paris Johnson now when you see him out there so that's my Dark Horse um and I'm sticking with it yeah I mean if uh uh Justin FR able to get Josh Simmons playing at a high caliber level All American level that's definitely another notch in his belt as far as the development argument against you know his recruiting struggles we're going to get to that a little bit later in the show I'm going to go with the chat Punk jumped the gun on it and I I would go with sunny Styles um we've heard a lot of hype about what he can be at the linebacker position I saw him during the Spring I thought that he was a little thin for the linebacker room you see what he looks like now see that he's really committed to transforming his body and I feel like you make that argument about a lot of people it seems like there's a real mentality and focus on getting their bodies right for the season you saw the transformation will Howard's made um you see uh all of these guys are de developing during the offseason and able to transform their bodies you hear what Dan said about Josh Simmons being able to drop that body fat this transformation a big hats off to Mick and what he's been able to do because it seems like everybody around the Woody this year has really got their body right and made a commitment to this strength program so that's awesome to see I definitely think both of those guys are great choices Iggy a physical corner I feel like it gets slept on how important he is in the Run game and Josh Simmons a guy that I mean it'd be a scary place where this offensive line was if Justin fry didn't go out and grab him out of the transfer portal you know one of the I don't I don't know if you caught this yesterday but the interview with Caleb Downs he talked a lot about laan Ransom like and so that's somebody that gets slept on too since we're you know on that topic I could see him end the ending up a second team All-American absolutely and I feel like the injury uh the injury bug has hampered the the hype around lean Ransom he's been hurt twice now but when he's been on the field he's been an absolute baller and that's definitely a guy that has been being slept on yeah do you think uh Ron for sunny styles do you think the um rise of arll ree do you think he'll be on the field enough to to be an All-American just because the way that Lauren n has said he's going to rotate the linebackers Whoever has the best week you know did I just was curious I I feel like they they say they're going to rotate I don't think it's going to be enough to impact Sunny's All-American opportunities especially if they're getting out early on teams I feel like if the defense has a cushion that no will try to get guys in then but as far as meaningful minutes that take away from sunny I feel like as long as the game's on the line Sunny's gonna have his snaps available to get it done yeah I just that was more that was more for Canon fodder than anything we know they don't rotate never yeah you my guy arel Reese keep keep buying that stock that would have been man yeah q q is gonna be loaded the way the stock keeps Rising on arvl Reese uh we heard the other day from um uh parent on the team that Aral re's just been absolutely balling this year like completely transformed his body hit a gross spurt during the off season so he said he's looking like an absolute freak out there and they wouldn't be surprised if he got on the field so it'll be interesting to see if arll is able to find those minutes especially with the lack of rotation that tends to happen in that linebacker room yeah I mean I I'm not opposed to seeing them lining him up on the edge you know if he keeps growing it sounds like that's where he's going to end up don't say it don't say that word oh he definitely defin we don't want to hear the word the Jack word associated with him because I feel like that's the kiss of death if they say Jack or consistency around your name you might as well just say bench I'm out we talked it yeah the Jack oh gosh whatever all right so um Two Shots guys come on all right so let's let's hop into it so we had will Howard name the star so I I I will start there just give me your short instant reaction I'll start with Dan this time you it's retion will Howard named the starter we had the QB battle that we heard about it was you know guys back and forth heard about the scrimmage will Howard comes out give me your inst reaction will Howard name start well those of you that have you know that know me from the timeline in our podcast you know that I've been a huge will Howard fan from day one and I've said he was going to be the starter from the get-go um um no I mean listen it it um it's to be expected right I think that going into Camp um I think he got a pass on the spring um for reasonable reasons um I think going into the fall Camp he was really going to have to turn the ball over a lot for Devon to have a chance to to take it from him to Devon's credit he competed he competed hard and you know I don't think it was as easy of a clear-cut decision as Ryan may have made it seem like in the press conference last week but you know I've seen some people recently questioning what he's going to do to the offense and that he's not going to be any better than Honda and that's just foolish that's silly I mean will Howard is is really really good in the RPO game he's Elite in the Red Zone with that RPO game and he has a pocket presence about him and a comfort level in the pocket that only comes with you know 30 plus career starts that just didn't exist on the team last year so I I'm excited about it I mean it it you know with the with the weapons that he has around him in chip we trust with the you know the game that Chip's going to call I think it's going to be really really exciting my biggest concern and I I've said this from the get-go and I'm not going to back off of it until I see differently is just downfield passing and accuracy if we're down by a score with two minutes left and we're you know we got to go 85 yards is he going to be able to do it he's done it before but he's also not done it before so that's my biggest concern um he also has a tendency to have a really dud of a game you know hopefully this environment you know minimizes that risk yeah Chad you know um I took a lot of flak for this comparison um but in my mind will Howard is a newer version of JT Barrett because uh you know Barrett didn't have a great downfield ball like he he was okay he wasn't Elite he wasn't CJ Stroud he was and even Justin Fields had a better downfield Ball but he could move the football and he hurt you with his legs and his pocket presence I'm not saying I'm not comparing Urban Meyer's offense to Ryan day's offense I'm not saying he's it's going to be QB power on every third and two not even a little bit but I do think that their their game resembles each other with their ability to manipulate and work the pocket and pick up five or six yards when you have to um was I surprised absolutely not uh smart money was on him uh even though you know I guess I would say he was going through growing pains in the spring you know uh CJ strout has talked about how complex and how detailed the the Ryan Day offense is so coming from a program even is uh with the lore of Kansas State um from when Bill Snider was there and they've had some really good runs in the past um you know Ryan day is thought of as an offensive Guru an offensive mind and a quarterback Guru and you know there are complexities in I know I don't know how how she want to say it to his offense and so yeah it takes a while to pick that up and Dan hit it on the head I think will Howard was going to have to have be a turnover machine in Camp even as good as our defense is um if Ryan day was not going to you know accept turnovers so no I was just going to ask how do you think that will fit what Chip Kelly wants to do and with this change in offense offensive scheme I mean I know it's still Ryan Day scheme but we do have a new play caller do you expect that will Howard fits this team better than Kyle did last year I know Kyle wasn't necessarily what everyone expected after having Dwayne H Haskins followed by JT Earth followed by Justin Fields followed by CJ strout everyone's expecting this offensive explosion a highflying offense but when you look back at last season the end of we were only six points away from beating the national championship if Kyle is able to get it done last year maybe the Buckeyes are competing for a national championship do you think a guy like will in that spot would have been able to get it done and now that he's here does he have what it takes to get it done unequivocally I am 100% convinced in adamant that if Will Howard was at the Helm last year in that game against Michigan that we would have won that game um the type of game that it was played into the hands of a of a run heavy strong you know Run game um I just you know I don't I don't see us you know going three and out as much as we did and I think when we get into the Red Zone we would have been a completely different team so yeah I I I have complete confidence that if it's the same type of game that we win we come out on top with Will Howard at quarterback yeah I don't I don't disagree at all I I think if Will Howard's the quarterback last year I think that's a completely different football game um and quite honestly you know that we had a we had a chance and they didn't do it um and I and I'll take it all the way back to K mcord in high school uh I've postured that his star rating was because he was thrown to Marvin Harrison Jr and maybe maybe he wasn't as talented as people thought yeah I don't want to R rag on the guy I don't but um it certainly at least during his time in Columbus really didn't translate to the field um and and I I thought you know when I watched him against akan when CJ had the hurt shoulder that maybe you know the he would be um very very good and maybe he will be at Syracuse but it certainly didn't translate to the field last year you better be careful man there might be a certain patriarch end up in your DMs if this gets out I heard actually back in Ohio State fans DM so yeah I would definitely be careful yeah I I have uh I have everyone named Derek blocked D you've been to a few practices you've gotten to see will interact with the team how does it feel like the team is responding to will and his lead ership you know I was at the first four practices so it was it was pretty even as far as reps were going at that point I mean they they were rolling all five guys I've I've got a little bit of a report on that now that we can get to later as to what they're doing with reps but those first four practices it was it was pretty even Steven as far as reps go so I don't know how how much he really had an opportunity to take over the team at that point um but you could tell that he's got a a a comfort level of you know being in a huddle and leading a huddle and and uh you know getting the guys where they need to be and and taking control I think the buzzword this year is command last year it was consistency with the quarterbacks this year it's command is the buzzword you hear in all the all the pressors um you can see where he was going to develop that with those guys and you know unless Jerry imig is running all sorts of interference and boot camps in regards to pressors they all seem to be you know impressed with what he's done and they've really taken to him yeah that's exciting to hear uh a lot of the questions last year were about Kyle's leaderships they felt like he didn't have that energy around the team cam talked about it a lot on Buck IBS as far as it felt like the team was taking the identity of the leadership which was Ryan Day who usually shows you I mean you could see it on his face in the timeline I mean during the game that Ryan day gets tight during these tight games against Michigan against the georgas I mean you see the Georgia energy but against Michigan the heads down in the play calling sheet and it doesn't you don't feel that energy you don't feel that fire and same with Kyle not a very vocal guy that was something that they mentioned a lot last year but with a guy like will Howard someone that I mean I've heard the phrase thrown around a lot with Will is gamer and I feel like that's kind of a blanket term for a guy that's not necessarily your prototypical quarterback or what you're looking for but just goes out there and gets it done it may not always look uh pretty impressive practice but when the lights come on they go out there and get it done yeah the vibe the vibe around him compared to Kyle is night day it's not even close to be fair it's different it's completely different when you compare Devon to Kyle you know um just completely different personas they have the quarterback swag that this team was lacking last year we've also seen a change at the as at for the play caller I mean we have a new quarterback we have a new play caller so lots of change around this offense what are your guys expectations and thoughts of the Chip Kelly higher I mean first we thought Bill O'Brien was going to be the guy we get gifted Julian San during the offseason because of the hire he runs off the uh Boston College before spring camp even starts your thoughts on Chip Kelly the play caller and how that changes the identity of this offense um I I would just go to think back to Chip Kelly at Oregon don't think UCLA uh and even though in UCLA they had a good run game I think that Chip Kelly being able to just be an offensive innovator like and free him up from doing all the other things for a head coach is scary Dan and I have pared this on our show a few times he and I met up at the spring game and they came out in a wing te with three running backs for the first play of the game and I looked at Dan he looked at me and we were like this is going to be fun guys and that's all I can say like Chip Kelly's not afraid to you know pull anybody crack back with a a wide receiver you know it it's going to be really really fun and the thing that I loved the most was hearing Ryan Day saying I'm not going to lay awake at night worrying about what I'm going to do at for third and two on my own 40 yard line with two minutes left chip gets to do that now and so that Ed of itself frees Ryan Day up to do so much more and sure he can have his influence it's the Ryan Day offense but man like I If if I took anything away from this hire and I would it took me forever to talk myself into the Bill O'Brien hire I kept saying well if he's good enough for bich he's good enough for savan then he's probably good enough for us and I I was not I was not on the Bill O'Brien train I was having a very hard time with it Dan was trying to like push me onto the Caboose you know um but yeah I'm I'm all in on Chip Kelly if Chip doesn't run stretch to the boundary on the first play of the Season I'm going to be very disappointed um I can actually see him he's he's got the type of Personality that would actually do that right I mean these guys hear what people say outside the Woody it gets back to them um that would be humorous uh but yeah I mean listen he is a master innovator um I can't imagine how much fun he's having with what he has to work with on this roster um I mean the closest he's probably had to this was when he was with the Eagles right um it's just so many different options and the feedback that we're getting this was coming out of spring I got a comment coming out of spring that the stuff he was doing in the Run game as far as schemes and everything else like that was was next level and stuff that some guys hadn't seen before so I can only imagine now that he's getting more comfortable and they're getting more of an install that it's just going to be even that much more dramatic it's it's going to be a lot of fun watching him play chess with some of these guys that are on our schedule yeah we talked about it sorry talked about it before the season started when R just got back to doing the show and it was like we had all these transfers in and all these players he's like well who are you looking more most forward to seeing and I was like man Chip Kelly like give me that Innovation what he could do man I haven't seen a dude take a slant at Ohio State to the crib in a long time he'll get Playmakers in space he'll use the speed have that was the guy I was most excited to like he was wearing a helmet I'm most excited to see him play with this Ohio State offense yeah you know and going back to to Will and the downfield passing thing I have all the faith in the world that Chip is going to scheme up some easy shots downfield um he did it with DTR at UCLA so it's not like that's not going to be part of our game plan it'll be there and and like I said my my motto this year is in chip We Trust yeah and I I had a question for both of you so he touched on will Howard before and chip Kell and his Innovation to the offense Ron and I and Mike all had a heated debate on on Buck IBS about the quarterback position and kind of the standard at Ohio State and at the time I had said oh the standard is first rounder which that might have been a little much but I I do believe the standard Ohio State for quarterback has been one of the best players in the nation going all the way back to Troy Smith and all the way through so do you think with chip Kelly's influence I don't I don't think anybody believes will Howard was one of the best players of the nation at his time at Kansas State I've never heard that do you think with the influence of Chip Kelly in his offense The Playmakers around him will Howard at the end of the season you'll look at him as one of the best players in the country I think so and that might surprise some people here and that come from me in particular but I do um I think the you know a lot of people are going to compare him to Bo Knicks right Bo Knicks was awful at Auburn he went to Oregon now bo bo had two years at Oregon but who would have thought B Knicks would be a first round pick and I'm not making that call on will Howard I'm just saying that the improvement year-over-year with the personnel and the scheme and guys like Ryan day and Chip Kelly can really uate or you know ex expose him in a good way I think they can really highlight his strengths and minimize his weaknesses and I think that uh I almost picked him as a dark course for allamerican when we were talking here at the beginning but I didn't want to shock too many people that it's early in the morning um yeah I I I I think I think the sky's a limit in this system Chad well I um I jokingly put a a graphic together with I can be your hero baby with by Enrique acius with Will Howard underneath of it uh because he said he doesn't have to be a hero uh and he's right with the amount of Talent on this offense he just has to exist within the system make the right reads make the right throws um you know and as they used to say in Friday Night Lights he just has to exist the two seconds between the snap and getting booby miles the football and with Trey and Q in the back field you know there there you know when you add in Brandon inis and Mecca Uka uh who probably will do some stuff in the Run game and in the talent of Jeremiah Smith and Cardinal Tate there's just there's so much talent on this offense that um you know and I know in the past it's been the trenches that has been our downfall you know and so I expect our offensive line to be improved but will Howard will go as our offensive line goes and that's the that's just how it is and so I'm I do think that he can if he plays within the system plays within himself certainly could end up you know being I I'm probably a second day pick in the NFL draft but um there's a reason that Lincoln Riley wanted him there's a reason that Ryan Dave wanted him and both those guys are known as quarterback gurus um so there's something about him his frame his arm whatever it is and uh there's a lot but I think that yes I think he he is an improvement uh over what we had last year and I think that at the end of the year we'll be happy that he's there before we get to the next question there's 175 people in here make sure you go ahead and smash that like button if you're watching on Twitter go ahead and throw a like and retweet on that video if you catch us in the community make sure you like that it really helps us get a push on Twitter if you're watching on YouTube I know there's about 50 people in here smash that like button it's a goal of ours to get to 50 likes before the live show wraps that really gives us a great push during the day so if you guys can go ahead and throw a like on that video we absolutely appreciate that we've been talking a lot about Chip Kelly and it seems like when we talk about Chip Kelly everything is prefaced with the Run game but I want to ask you guys what does Chip Kelly's addition to this team mean for zone six this year do you guys expect the same sort of offensive explosion from the wide receivers and if it doesn't look the same as it did when Ryan day was calling the plays does it make r or does it make Brian harlin's pitch more difficult to add guys to this room when the offense if the offense doesn't necessarily look like it did under Dwayne just and CJ yeah I I I have full faith in it I just look at 2019 as an example I know that people are talking about Run game Run game Run game I've heard some people think that we're going to run you know 60 65% of the game I mean when when we put up 3500 yards and JK had 2,000 we still only ran the ball 49% of the time I mean Ryan's a pass first guy I don't he's not Ryan's not turning over the Reigns to chip in entirely in as much as people think he is I I think it's going to be a nice marriage um I think there's plenty to go around um I think the biggest question is going to be how long do they stay in the game you know to be able to get fed you know in a lot of these games this year so I I think that um I think people will be surprised at how open the passing game still is even though chip is is run focused Chad yeah so the the the about Chip Kelly is he he loves mesh routes he's big on the screen game he wants the wide receivers to block so I do I don't think it changes the pitch for Brian Hartline because hartline's going to coach you up and get you ready for the NFL uh I I know Terry mclen didn't go into first round but look at Terry mclen I know he came in under Zack Smith I understand that but he finished under Brian hartl and he's an elite NFL wide receiver so do I think it impacts his pitch no not not even a little bit um you're coming here and you're getting Co you're playing for Ohio State you're playing for and the way that the new playoff structure is you're going to see the playoffs you're going to be you know you have a chance to play for annati you're playing under Brian Hartline who played in the NFL you're playing one of the most elite offenses uh in college football uh and regardless of who the play caller is and what that looks like whether it's mesh routes rub routes or Slants you know all day long I don't think that that you know I loved the quick hitters to Garrett Wilson from CJ Stout as much as anybody else when he would take him to the house and Chris olve but you know you also if Will Howard's your quarterback and we have a concern about the Deep ball then maybe you know I'd rather hit on 65 or 70% of my passes inside of 20 yards then hit on 20% of my passes over so no I don't think it I don't think it really impacts it at all yeah I think the I think the room is deep and that's where the that's why you see what you see this year with some of the wide receiver recruiting yeah I had made the argument I think chip coming in far as Zone stick 6 maybe opens it up for guys who maybe aren't the Prototype that Brian Harline likes where you do maybe everything right but those special traits of guy I mean we've heard all all offseason I know Mick Hypes these stats up to make him unbelievable but guys running 25 and 26 miles an hour we hear that every day will Howard's running 28 miles an hour he beat Noah Alli um J B's running 30 but I I do think chip coming with guys like milin Graham or Jaden Balor these these guys who we had we know have exceptional speed but just weren't doing all things right I think it creates an opening for them to say all right maybe you can't you know do the full rout Tre but hey I'mma use you on screens I'mma use you on reverses we' seen that in the spring game with Jaden ballad he ran a reverse and I'm like okay like okay we we do got something here so I I think that's another impact that Chip's gonna have on this room of just why Chad's laughing because he's a he's a huge Jaden Ballard uh guy um area I'm a little disappointed man you had a to you had a complete opening there for the boys a train reference you're always dropping your boys your boy I mean I heard compound V the other day you know I thought you were gonna get I thought you were gonna capitalize on that right there well I I do have a saying around here that people might know and it's called too fast to play here and I like there a lot of guys who have been on that list for a while where it's like oh he's this fast offensive and defensively where I'm like oh he's just too fast to play here that's why that's why he either didn't commit here or he's not seeing the field so that's usually the one I go with hope we have an into that this season that's funny yeah well I hope they find a role for Jaden balard just because you better not be punt return here we go here we go I get it enough on our own show Dan I don't need it on their you know how I feel about Fair catchers at the 5 yard line perfect well hopefully with the new uh well lack thereof special teams coordinator maybe it's addition by subtraction and our special teams gets better without a coordinator I know Ryan Day delegated those duties I believe that uh James lur no laurenitis is in charge of kickoff that's the one that we want to get to next James ltis becomes a full-time uh position coach on the staff your thoughts there on the linebacker rotation and just the decision to make uh James litus a full-time member of the staff we've heard the Praises of him on the recruiting Trail you look at the class he's been able to put together it looks like the best linebacker class that uh has come to Columbus in the Ryan day era so just your thoughts on the addition of James leitis and what he adds to this defensive staff go ahead all right cool yeah no I um I mean I'm really really excited about it I mean how can you not be he's already made an impact on the recruiting Trail um I love his mentality I think he's got instant street cred both in the room and on the trail um and he seems to be true to his word I mean he came out of spring and he said you know you the the rotation going to change daily based on who performs the best he go I can't if you if you you know crap the bed for three days and practice during the week he goes do you think you deserve to start no and I think we got a little glimpse of it this week it seemed like Rell started to get some run you know some run with the ones um with some of the clips that we've seen you know coming off that that day of being named Silver Bullet of the day so I um I just think he's got so much knowledge and so much credibility that I think the players really really respond to him and it it it was a great great ad I just wish it didn't take as long as it did it shouldn't have I understand why it did but it shouldn't have Chad yeah I I agree with what Dan said as far as James Laius uh you know I I don't I don't get why it took as long as it did to hire him I don't know why Ryan Day waited as long as he did um but having him in the room is incredible um I want to be careful because we took a lot of heat when we said this is the best linebacking recruiting class that we've gotten in quite some time um because people um didn't like that we were saying that because we got um you know we had Sunny Styles and and a couple other guys come in and and but yeah that I mean just let's stack guys on top of guys like we are in the secondary and I think that's the that's the plan with James uh I like the way he's going to do rotations um I think that one of the great things is that he played at an elite level in the NFL and it's a you know some of these guys that some guys that played can't coach they just aren't you know it's not it's not their Forte but James has a way if you've ever talked to him he's a really incredible guy I have one autographed football and it's from him uh and he's he's just a really genuine downhome dude and he really relates with the players um I think a lot of James litus he as well as Bobby Carpenter I had a chance to meet them both and just really genuine dudes and um I think that's going to change the linebacking core for the very near and and and well into the future as long as he sticks around uh which I hope they keep him forever so yeah I've never had the opportunity to speak with James L night is but if I do I'll have to ask him to unblock me on Twitter so okay what you do Hey Ron what did you say to for I committed I committed the unforgivable sin of asking for him to play CJ Hicks that is a that is a blockable offense so uh anyone in Buckeye Nation if you're a CJ Hicks fan don't uh don't express that on the timeline or it'll get you blocked but um I I to chime in there yeah another another thing I I always say on this show is I I want my linebackers to return punts and kicks a couple classes ago I seen a Georgia linebacker do it on his huddle tape and I was like yeah I need that on my football team so you look at this um you look look at this linebacker roster it's straight athletes out here that that he has and a lot of things he can do so for James litus I I am looking to finally see have guys flying all over the field look a part of this defense because I thought last year when Sunny Styles they played him in the Box some to go along with the linebackers and it was like he was on the right side the play would go to the left and he'd run past Tommy and steal it and make the play and I was like yeah we need some upgrade here at at athleticism a little bit so I'm definitely looking look forward to that and what he's doing on the trail obviously going into Florida going into Texas I I gotta agree with you there the room trajectory looks up and I love hearing that you know the best guys are goingon to play week after week no more you you go out and have a bad game and you're bulletproof and and I think we we've seen that a lot around this team I I say this all the time when I do my shows with Chris I'm like Chris who's lost a position battle at Ohio State like who's the last person to lose one I can't I can't name it you know via injury I can't think of a younger guy who's actually unseed an older guy who was returning like I said I think Carson hensman may be the first guy to not return and have his starting spot and who knows how long so the impact of James kns I think will be felt on this team yeah that's fair uh yeah I agree with you so Q we talked before the show I I'm a big uh I'm a big believer in arel Ree and so seeing him uh getting some run and flying to the football and uh the elite athleticism is important and I think Petty John is one one of those as well as TJ Alfred when we were recruiting Alfred he was the number one linebacker that I was watching I was like man I hope we get that guy and uh yeah so I could see I could see one of them returning punts that would be interesting that is Q's favorite concept of a linebacker that's athletic enough to return punts I mean we're a little short here on time so we're going to have to spare Justin fry for the day unless okay the floor is I was going to jump right towards lying season and hope for the Buckeye fans about how great this season's going to go and I figured and we give the guy a break we've been very tough on him the past week but what would a show it feels like he's becoming the new Parker Fleming of this show so the floor is your guys is getting hot for Justin fry here's the million-dollar question I think they he is he today or tomorrow with the beat I I'm not sure so he's this week it's going to be really interesting to see what sort of interferences are on and what sort of questions he gets because we all know it's going to be if somebody asks a hard question I'll be really really surprised I'm sure imig is running interference and saying like listen this isn't the format for it um and they'll fall in line they'll listen um but listen man it's it's it's not just about the numbers it's about the approach and the strategy right and I'll use is it Jackson Lloyd that committed Alabama yeah uh yeah so just using him as an example right he he he sends out a minimum number of offers we don't get the guys that we want and then he sends out a flurry of offers the you know that kid that kid made a a trip to campus within a week and then a week later he commits to Alabama does that turn out differently if we're in on him a a year earlier like I just the whole stry needs to change I'm not going to beat the dead horse it's like I told Chad yesterday it's the horse is already glue at this point um we you know it just the strategy needs to change and I don't understand it I just don't understand it hey Chad before you answer I'll throw this question in there and um D you feel free to respond to this too we talked about this a lot on this show of De playing on the field and then recruiting and if your guys no matter who you get if they look good on the field is that enough keep your job and obviously for Perry elano his crew played really well last season he did not keep his job so I don't know if things can be different from for Justin fry but I I'll leave it to you there do you think if they play well enough on the offensive line it's good enough to keep his job or does he have to recruit so yes he has to recruit I think we need to um rethink a little bit about the offensive line and what it is and what a what a how long it takes to develop those guys and I know that you can't pick up and put David S there's not another David Sanders in this class he's a day one starter but there's maybe one of those two at most per class very like those are one of ones so um somebody asked me about the Armstrong Twins and you know yeah they're growing you know and I think they factor into 2025 uh but yeah performance is is huge getting those guys ready is huge uh but you know three and four stars that's okay you know the the festar offensive lineman that's great nationally it looks good on your you know recruiting board um but it's that's a developmental position those kids you know um what happens to your body between 18 and 20 or 21 uh as far as going from you know a young man to a man uh and that's those those are men on the offensive line that's a that's a big deal and so I'm struggling with I feel like if he has a really good if our offensive line has an amazing year and they're grinding and they're winning and you know let's say they win the Joe Moore award it's really tough to get rid of the guy that helped you do that um on the flip side though you really I mean you got to be able to close on some of these top tier recruits or you're really going to I mean you can't wait three years every time you get a recruit you know unfortunately that's my two cents so I've always thought that the Perry Alano can't recruit was nothing more than a smoke screen nolles wanted one of his guys in in that room with him that's all it that to me because if you look at elano his his his group played well they performed and look at the guys he recruited I mean you got mlan bonsu you know Roker um I guess I guess Roker is a uh is an mg guy but Harford I just yeah Hartford I mean I don't I don't B I don't buy the Perry elano couldn't recruit thing I think that was a smoke screen that Ryan did to protect nolles nolles wanted his guy I mean Gary is is is noll's guy he knows the defense like the back of his hand he earned his his right to go in there and say I want my guy after last season and I think that's what happened I think it I think it would be really really hard to get rid of fry if the line performs to the level that we're hearing it's going to and I quite honestly that's only going to help recruiting right unless it truly is a personality thing and guys just don't like them I I don't I don't know I'm just baffled by the strategy and the approach like there there are guys right now that what do you know Ron um there are guy there are guys right now that should have offers that don't yeah agree Adam Adam Guthrie I mean that Adam guth's been the you know he's been the poster child for what's wrong with the strategy for the last four or five days and what they did what they did with Will Conroy too no definitely definitely we agree we we had a good chat about it yesterday about just the recruiting strategy and how it's not working and hopefully the beat does not fall on the sword for oh well I'm glad you said that I'm officially retiring that phrase on this show so there's no confusion we are no longer saying the Beats so when we talk about someone on this show that covers Ohio state with a credential I will for now on be saying their name exactly on this show so there's absolutely no confusion I don't want there to be confusion with the people on the beat that we do like there are plenty that we don't but from now on when we say we are no longer saying the beat on this channel if we're talking about someone credential to talk about this show or to talk about this team we will say their name and make sure when you guys say ours you're ready for the clapback so did we're not afraid to get on show our face and say your name did something did something happen this week to implement this new rule we did we did not want we didn't want to bring down the vods of this show but boy do we have an explosive show to start next week once our guest week is over because there's plenty to address and they will all be addressed by name next Monday so just to late they may or may not have happened behind a pay wall Dan exactly uh so yeah the yeah we all have friends on the beach oh I know what happened I was being faci all right all right but I know Ron want wants to get to expectations for you for the season so real quick yeah so I just wanted to get your guys thoughts I mean there's a lot of expectations I mean we've used the phrase Natty or Bust Around Here a ton The Season's here I mean this is our final Saturday was just this past Saturday without college football we have college football for the rest of the year so what are your expectations for this team high hopes for the Buckey new coaches new quarterback but the expectations are Scott High with all of these guys returning on defense what are you guys expecting from this team this year Chad can I go first absolutely all right man so to me I am a Natty or bus guy now to me that doesn't mean Natty or Ryan's fired but just with the expectations with what's been put into this team with who's come back with who we got out of the portal with Chip Kelly with as many returners that we have on the third ranked defense coming out of last year to me it's a n bu year unfortunately it's going to be harder than it's ever been to win that Natty this year with the 12 team playoff I mean if you think about that that that stretch you're going from the cheaters up north to the Big 10 title game to an off week if you win the Big 10 title game to three really good games you know strong games most likely against SEC you know teams so it's going to be harder than ever but to me there's no excuses this year I do think Ryan's taken a different approach I don't know have you seen have yall seen that movie Miracle yeah you know there's not me there's that there's that scene where where her Brooke goes you know I'm your coach I'm not your friend if you need one of those Craig's right there um I think Gran's taken that approach with these guys I don't think he's the the most well-liked guy in the building and I don't think he cares anymore um I think he's got an assassin mentality you've seen it with him bringing insane you've seen it with with some of the decisions he made he was decisive with the QB decision this year as opposed to last year um brought in chip you know a lot of resources um to me it's Nat or bust and I don't know like I'm starting to see a lot of projections where we you know we're like 11 and one but win the Big 10 title I think everybody's assuming we're going to lose to Oregon in that case I I don't even feel good about a blemish on the record this year I really don't it it I want to see a zero at the end in the Lost column when the dust settles this year Chad yeah so I'm always careful with the N or bus thing but I agree that with what we returned who they brought back who they brought in and then the changes with the bringing in Chip Kelly if we don't win it something went horribly wrong so uh you know I I do think that winning 15 or 16 games in a row is really hard as the New England Patriots um it's tough to go undefeated the expectation is you know expectations are the highest that I can ever remember since 2015 uh when they returned you know cardale and Zeke and Bosa and all those guys so I don't I don't remember a more hyped te Ohio State team um in all my time being around Ohio State football so uh if they don't win it I I'm not I'm not on the fire Ryan Day train at all um I'm not even at the station but the fact that they didn't there are going to be some and I know we know Dan and I know this for a fact there will be some boosters that are very very angry so uh and you don't like Angry boosters yeah I I'll chime in there um we had talked about it with when Anna he came on about is it okay for this team to lose a game and and I look down this schedule I I think this game against Oregon and that's usually the one people go to throughout the season is is probably the second most important to the Natty maybe even the most important going forward because you talk about Oregon coming in with this momentum you know all the hype about Dan Lanning talked about him the other day and just the trajectory of that program with unlimited resources unlimited money and it's like if you lose to Oregon this year regardless if it's a close game or not the momentum they're going to come off with going into the next season even if they don't win a Natty or you know win the Big 10 but the fact that they slain the dragon of the Big 10 and maybe end up with one loss or something I I I think that is a dangerous setting for for the future if you give that program any more momentum so I think that is a must-win for Ohio State I'd say with the nattier bus claws I'm I'm almost never nattier bus I don't like measure that because if I look down if I look down the record I could say as much as well as I talk about Kirby in that team I think Michigan last year avoided the monster and Kirby I think they every time Ohio State goes to playoffs we find a way to play The Avengers like they give us the toughest we we play everybody who could possibly beat us I think Michigan avoided that last year but I think if we go into a Natty against Kirby and Ryan Deon he can go toe-to-toe so maybe that neglects my argument but I think Kirby is a little bit higher than Ryan day at this point my opinion and if we lost in a close game to Georgia I wouldn't say oh this season was a failure no we got to win The Natty it's a failure if we I'm not going there it'll be it'll it'll be a disappointment I guess we can debate if disappointment and failure are two different things hey that boy Johnny I I was waiting for him man I had my asterisk loaded in the chat in the reply bar he came in he came in late this morning but I always try to get my asteris in there when he posts his trophy shout out it's all in good fun shout out to our guy Johnny one of our Michigan faithfuls we appreciate him tuning into the show but we definitely appreciate our guys Dan and Chad from the best damn podt in the land joining us today this was an awesome discussion it was a great time having you guys on the show we definitely have to do this again during the season plenty just of stuff to talk about and definitely like to cut through the the fluff and propaganda that is posted regarding this team so it's always fun to talk the real with you guys I appreciate you guys joining this show let the people know where they could find you guys at yeah so we're on Twitter uh our hashtags are up there or hashtags our ATS are on the screen so the at the best ampon to land is uh on Twitter just like that I shark 8 for Dan and then we're on YouTube um I have been pushing our shows to Spotify uh now so you can find us on Spotify but it's just the best damn pod in the land on YouTube yeah we've got a push to uh get to our first 500 subscribers going so we've had a a good little run that's that first Milestone that we're looking for um you know we like to say we you know we started this things for shits and giggles but it gets pretty addictive pretty quick you know bucka Nations and then you know the Pod world is is really cool we've got some good friends now so yeah yeah go ahead get over there give us a like give us a subscription and uh keep supporting these guys as well yeah absolutely thanks for having us Ron Q This is this was great I absolutely loved it so thank you no he had a great time and big thank you for you guys joining us there's 250 people in here if you guys aren't subscribed to the best an pod in land make sure you guys go check that out and stay up to dat with all of the Buckeye information Q I am one minute away from a meeting so let the people know where they could find you and do it quickly appreciate everybody y'all know the deal see boy quitting on Twitter finding Johnson most other places in mod League films up here appreciate the chat coming in y'all did a great job today the chat was vibing so I appreciate y'all don't the WR absolutely big uh big thanks to the chat we appreciate you guys tuning in every day and supporting us in the mornings if you want to find me you can find me on Twitter at two's it's right there on the screen 2or tees it is guest week we have another guest tomorrow a big surprise guest we're not going to tell you who it is make sure that you tune in and check out the guest tomorrow and then of course we have P Hill of menace to Sports on Friday so appreciate the guys from the best an pod in land for joining us here on the buck guy roast it is guest week make sure that you continue to tune in if you missed the chimy episode yesterday make sure you check that out a big thank you to everyone like comment and subscribe on the video go buck in oh go [Music] okay