2024 Ohio State Fall Training Camp | Key Transfers, QB Battle, and Hear From Ryan Day & Chip Kelly

Caleb Downs & Jack Sawyer Talk Training Camp you spent some time here got here in January how's the transition been I feel like it's been good I feel like everybody's accepting me pretty well um it's feel great to be here in the Brotherhood and I wouldn't change it glad to be here how comfortable are you right now extremely comfortable I feel like the spring helped me get inclined with football and everything and the defense so feel like I'm playing fast and feel like the team is playing really well right now too yeah how do you feel about just where you guys are right now in Camp yeah I feel good I think that uh you know last few days we've definitely taken a step I think in the right direction as a whole team I think the offense is starting to click a little better um defense you I think we came out sharp you know from the beginning of camp and uh just trying to build every day you know we got a lot of Veteran guys you know Caleb himself he might be a sophomore but he's a veteran guy too uh played a lot of snaps last year for Alabama so I think it's going well and I think that if we just keep continuing at this pace next two weeks it's going to be it's going to be pretty uh it's going to be a pretty product on the field here here come U you know August 30th you guys have a lot of Talent on that side of the ball and a lot of young Talent as well and it's it's refreshing to see veteran guys coaching up the young guys and being engaged in practice what does that do for the team morale as a unit I feel like it helps the people that are on the sideline if they have energy it creates a different type of feel for practice if everybody on the sideline is just looking like sad and not excited and into the practice then it doesn't really make a good feel so I feel like if you coach the young guys up they'll help you and they'll give you energy off the sideline too talk to me about Coach noes and just what he's been able to do for you guys and the changes that he's made yeah I think uh man coach noes is a really smart guy I mean the defense that he's built um you know from the secondary to the second level and then to the front um you know it's it's it's so in-depth and it's so uh you know it works it's a great it's a great scheme you know we all love playing in and I think that he's done a great job this offseason of letting us to you know have a little more freedom maybe play a little looser and I think that's just making us play faster and allowing us to be be athletes that we are allowing Caleb Downs to be Caleb Downs um you know so to speak so I think that he's done a great job with us um this off season and along with the other coaches on the staff too and you know the guys are coming along and you know young guys are stepping up too so that's really important with the longer season this year how have you seen the offensive line develop I mean they've got a tough task dealing with you guys all day yeah no I mean they they're getting a lot better I think that uh you know right now uh a couple guys are sick so it's kind of hard to tell today but uh they they've been doing really well I think they've been they've been making the right steps uh you know the that starting group real really strong a lot of a lot of younger guys are starting to pick the pace up a little bit so I think that you know as we gear Gear closer towards uh you know week one you guys are going to be really pleased with how our offensive line Looks you know all the groups offense defense we see them competing at very high level when you talk about the wide receivers and then the secondary what's that competition like cuz it it get it gets uh a little feisty out there it definitely gets chippy out there I feel like it's all in good uh I mean good intentions but B definitely we have some animosity to the wide receivers when it comes to the field but um it's all for the Brotherhood it's all for the good of the team whoever we push each other and make each other better so there's no no animosity yeah you know what you can see that you guys go right up to the line of where it could tip and go the other way and then you guys okay let's let's rrap and go back and do something else yes sir that's good it's really fun to watch you guys practice stay healthy and looking forward to watching you guys this year awesome my man appreciate it Chip Kelly Talks First Season as Offensive Coordinator coach good to see you good to see you I'm this set with the with the Mike flag and all man unbelievable I want to hear what has it been like for you in this role here we are in the camp as the offensive coordinator new setting in in a long time yeah it's been awesome and I think first and foremost because of the kids and the players here you know they are all about football their mindset and the culture that these players here a lot of people speak about it but you can see it here every day it truly is a Brotherhood um anything coach day ask them to do they do and they know that he wouldn't ask him to do something if it wasn't beneficial to what's going to go on during the season so you know you guys just got a chance to observe what practice looks like here and it's it's a different level and it's a different level because of the players and these players here are awesome he you coached at a different level for quite some time you had coached twice in the NFL I don't want to compare the talent necessarily but it just feels like it's a veteran group the way they work the way they stretch the way they practice the way they tackle the way they finish is that a fair comp if so do you have some examples it is and and I think it's you know those nine players who decided to come back because they had unfinished business you know I think they've set the tone they've been the north star that the rest of the team has followed and it it's been awesome you know the Cody Simons and the achas and uh Trey Henderson Donnie Jackson there's a bunch of those guys you know Jack on the defensive line JT there's a bunch of those guys and they've been around each other so much that they they truly are brothers those older guys and it it's filtered down to the younger guys and it's it's pretty cool to watch coach obviously being a head coach a lot more time doing other things I mean that's that's what every head coach says when they go through the transition that you've gone through but specific to the game plan during the season how is it different like when you were a head coach and you're putting in the game plan you were drawn in different directions yeah how different will it be now I think it'll be different you know Ryan has a lot on his plate you know we meet offensively and defensively all the time and then he's in and out of the meetings you know he'll come in and then sometimes it's like you got to summarize like hey we just covered this this is where we are I like this I like this I like this think about this here and then you just kind of because you can run it by him that way but he does get pulled in a lot of directions I I can empathize with him because I've been a head coach I was a head coach for 15 years you you understand what that role is like but the fact that I just get to do football is a pretty cool part so there's a lot of talk about the offensive line needs to come along or improve specifically what does what does that look like where specifically do they have to improve yeah I that's interesting and I I get that but I wasn't here last year so I didn't watch any of that like when I came in here I'm like wow this this group's pretty good there's some really talented kids I think Donnie is outstanding adding Seth from Alabama who's a real veteran guy uh Jimmy's played a lot at left tackle Josh Fri has played a ton of football for us you know trying to figure out who the Right Guard is going to be um but there's a lot of guys that are playing really really well and competing really well so you know I think sometimes when you're in this thing and you don't have an observer come in from the outside you know you're not sure what you have then you I've always done it with yogi when he comes in whenever my teams are like what do you think because you don't know what your team is cuz you don't see anybody else but when I came in from the outside I was like wow this whole Line's pretty good and then I ically Billy O'Brien's a great friend and Obie was here just before me before he left to go to BC and I said Obie what do you think about the job when it came open and uh and I was talking to Ryan and he was like he goes man they're loaded he goes I don't know what they say about that old line but there's three or four of those guys that are stting the NFL right now so so I'm excited about where we're headed into the offensive line as you know we got to get that kind of get that first unit together so they can Jael but but I'm excited about what this group can do I think it's the most physical house day practice we've seen since with network started yeah one of the most physical practices I've ever seen I think anybody that showed up they can know football are not they're going to say yeah that Jeremiah Smith guy's pretty good what have you learned about how he's approached the craft and the expectations the praise the blame that could be thrown on a young player yeah that's the one thing about J JJ is a tremendous athlete and that kind of struck me the first time I saw him I'm like wow who is that kid but then when you watch him every day like his work ethic is in a typical 17-year-old and I think and I say that cuz he was 17 when he first got I think he just turned 18 but he is like an old soul he is like a guy that's been in the NFL for 10 years and just wants to work on his craft and he works as hard at stock blocking as he does at running deep balls like there is no task too big too small um we had a bike competition for power outage we had an Olympic competition that went from 48 to 24 to down to the final eight down to the final four he won it as a freshman you know when we had our our testing in in February he broad jumped 112 that would have been the longest broad jump at the combine this year wow and he did it as a 17-year-old so he has the physical skills but the thing that amazes me about JJ is his mental approach and that every day he's working on his craft to get better and it's you know some sometimes to have that maturity at that age is really special coach appreciate your time it's great having you and Ryan day is with me now Ryan Day Talks Chip Kelly's Impact on the Team & QB Battle coach those are some amazing numbers I know you're not thrilled with the way the last few seasons ended but can you take some pleasure when you look at that at what you have accomplished here no no uh it's all about you know where we are right now and where we are moving forward um you know I I feel great about where we are as a program and the work that's been done um you know to not only recruit uh the players we have put the staff together uh but also you know the culture that's that's been built here and that's here right now um you got a chance to see practice you know you can see um you know how the guys are very very competitive against each other uh it was a long practice but it was a physical practice and if we can keep stack in days like this um then you know more ons will be ahead of us it was an incredibly impressive day and so I know you have that goal in mind of being a national championship team I want to talk about some of the moves you made one of them that's so interesting is Chip Kelly coming in you know him back to your days in New Hampshire you guys have worked together in the past with him collaborating now with you where do you think that he is adding the most value uh there's a lot of value in that I think the first thing for me individually is the trust that's there and you know his background not only being a head coach being a coordinator for so long he's got a lot of background of U great offensive uh mind he's got a great offensive mind and great scheme and I think the key is like what fits our guys and and as we come together you know what's already been here but him adding on to that is critical uh but he's got great experience calling plays big games um and it's been great to collaborate with our staff that's here now and figure out where this this year is going because every year is a different journey I do think it's fascinating that he left a head coaching job to come here and part of that is the chance to work with you and part of that is the immense Tal but part of that is the job has changed give people a sense of how different your job is than it was even just a few years ago with the portal and and I I think I said it like two or three years ago that we may wake up in a few years and not really recognize college football I think we do recognize it we know what it is I think the product's been as you know as good as it's ever been but it has changed a lot that comes with uh the way teams are built on a year and year out basis and and it's become almost year to year now we're very fortunate we've been able to retain a good portion of our roster year in and year out in particular this year uh but but it is it's a little bit that way and because of the drastic changes that have gone on uh it the job does change now here what here's what hasn't changed football yeah you know and that's the great part of this time of year is we're not worried about anything else you know we can put all the distractions aside the guys don't have class we can just focus on football they're in the hotel so we can eliminate a lot of the distractions let's focus in on the football you're going to get a lot of questions about the quarterback situation you have a little bit of a battle going on here what are the factors that you're going to use to win it down and decide who your starter is we're going to have to win uh the big games we know that here U you got to win them all but you got to win the big ones and and what entails winning those big games the first thing is you got to have great command and you got to have great Poise uh in the Huddle uh and the line of scrimmage uh you got to be able to hurt teams with your feet and with your arm uh and and when it's time to make that play you got to make that play uh and and that's a big part of being a leader you you got to lead the team into the end zone and down the field uh I feel like our guys have done that they've had a good summer you're starting to see some guys really step up in that room looking to see how this you know this Saturday goes we'll be scrimmaging a little bit I want to ask you about the offensive line as well was an area probably again it's all relative but it probably was your Ry St a year ago where do you see that group now well uh you know coming into Camp um you a lot more experien in the path Seth certainly helps us solidify some things on the inside uh you know both tackles have experience Donovan Jackson um you know really had a great summer as well uh you know they've had a little funky illness going on in that room we're hoping to flush that out here by the end of the week so we can move forward we've been kind of a little bit uh back and forth a couple of the lineups a couple guys been in and out so hopefully we get to flush that out and start to get some chemistry with that group I do want to ask you about one individual on offense just because Jeremiah Smith is getting so much hype for people who haven't had a chance to see him dayto day just give people a sense of what he brings yeah that's the only reason when you guys come to these practices you get to see some stuff that other folks can't uh you probably saw one of the plays he made today he's a tremendous Talent uh I've been trying to keep you know everything at Bay for a little while until he plays um but it's it's no secret he's a tremendous Talent um but I think the thing again that impresses me the the most about him is not only physically his ability to run routes and catch the ball is his strength his size but his work ethic I mean he really works at it on the field goes hard but then off the field as well a very very few Miss assignments for a young player you talk about work ethic and one thing that really stood out to me today is this group does seem really self-motivated there's so much competition going on among themselves and and and they're driven by that let me ask you this when you have a team this talented like what is the psychology how do you know when to push hard how do you know when to back off well I think the first thing is that they're very very hungry they are and and we're going to push we're going you know I think it's easy to say well you know it's a marathon we'll get to the end of the season but that's not the way this game's played it's played physical it's played hard we want to we wear teams down and win the game in the fourth quarter and so you know these guys are embracing it I mean you saw you know how we finished today and and you know how our guys went today and and they want more you know they they're they're running off the field wanting more and that's that's a great sign for a team but uh you know we're going to keep pushing you know we we think that um you know we're very talented but we don't want to be known for our talent we want to be known for all the no Talent issues our effort our work ethic our focus our discipline all those types of things and so that combined with a great skill set that we're working on building our fundamentals as preseason is our focus last question for you is it hard to focus in on all those little things for guys when they know that ultimately they're going to be judged on what happens at the end of the year uh I I think if you know our Focus has been building this foundation for the future you don't know about the foundation you're building until you get down the road and the way that I described it to our our team was you know you don't know if a house is strong enough to withand a storm until the storm comes but you got to you got to spend time building that Foundation the right way and you know so we're really trying we say one day at a time one brick at a time but but that brick has got to be in there right you can't rush it you can't you know take a day and just throw it out the window or maybe have a bad day we're not allowed to have a bad day at Ohio State and so we're going to keep building this foundation and we'll find out when the big storms and the big games come we had an awfully good day today it was fun to watch thanks for giving us the access you do day Treveyon Henderson & Quinshon Judkins Talk Season Preview thanks some people say this just might be the best running back duo in all of college football what would you say uh shoot I don't really play too much to you know what everybody else opions you know we just I think the biggest thing you know we just trying to put the work in each and every day and just get better make our team better so I totally agree with Trey like I said uh we don't really listen to the outside noise we just continue to improve every day and work what are some of the things that you've learned now that you've been here for a while uh I'll say just my time being at Ohio State so far you know I truly understand what it's like being a part of a A brotherhood a team with commanderie that brings everybody in and cares for each other genuinely and what it takes to win a National Championship you had an unbelievable freshman year injuries here and there how did that wear on you as a player mentally uh it was tough man but you know I'm so thankful you know for what God has put me through you know it helped me grow and it led me to him and so that's the most important thing you know so I'm man I'm thankful for everything that he allowed me to go through tell me about the room you have an opportunity you know coming in you're going to share time but but what does that mean and how does that affect your mentality because there was a time that you know you wanted to be the number one running back you needed to be the guy you wanted 30 carries a game but think have shifted now how have you adjusted to that you know it's it's all about the the Personnel you know and also just that person like the situation coming in for different people so it's different but for me and Trey I don't think it was never an issue or anything we thought about you know we're team players uh we just handle what we can and just coming into the situation was like it was nothing we support each other through everything so it was easy tell me a little bit about what this team needs to do from the Run game standpoint to get you where you want to do is win a championship man I think you know just each and every day you know fall Camp right now times it get it gets hard you know hot outside body start to W down but the biggest thing is just the coaches help us do is just push through you know um like coach said you know try to get past that wall you know when we reach that point where we feel like we can't go no more just keep pushing man and God has been doing a great job of helping us do so so man I'm yeah sometimes people ask you to describe your game I'm going to put a little twist on that I want you to describe each other's game you just get one word though okay freak goe that boy different I bro the you going to steal mine I to say different for him but uh yeah that's my word for him different sure tell me about the spin move I didn't get a chance to see it today yeah they tell me it's unbelievable I was hoping to see it today and you know was crazy I think it came out with a update today on the game where the Platinum is gone so I'm like dang man but uh you know I seen some videos some clips it was outstanding it was crazy for seeing those clips on a video game so it's wild yeah right this defense you guys go against a defense that's that's Elite every day in practice how does that help you man best best of the best man who who we competing against and you know man coach NOS he's doing a great job you know what he's doing and um just putting the putting putting those players in the right you know places and you know to make make plays and so man they just they continue to bring it like that man I'm telling you watch out what do you see from that group yeah definitely an outstanding uh defense man every single day in practice they're trying their hardest to get across the ball you know they're disciplined they work hard every drill every station that we go to where we're playing I know that they're going to give their all so they help us improve our game every single day well guys thanks for lot of spending a little time with me stay healthy have a great year appreciate you coach appreciate you Jim Knowles Talks Goals For Training Camp spending some time with us you made some adjustments between year 1 and year two at Ohio State what was that process like year 2 to three two to three you know you you look at all those things that uh you can get better at because there are still areas where we can and uh you know you're you're chasing Perfection you know we we no longer uh happy with good or even great you know we're just chasing perfection in all areas some things you need to improve on before you get out of Camp you think yeah I mean uh you know we're working on our pressures uh you know an area we we weren't really blitzing a lot last year so we're working on that free free up our D lineman and um we're working on turnovers I mean those are two areas we identified that we can get better at how do you work on turnovers yeah you you create an elaborate system because a lot of it uh comes down to just the attempt you know so you really track you know are we going for the ball in those situations you're not hitting a quarterback ever so it's just a matter of are you matching the hand you know those kind of simp things that you can really track and and we post it every day and we've been emphasizing it since spring coach so many key players returned what have you noticed about what they've done to the culture of your side of the ball whether it's on the practice field in the meeting rooms in the facility Well you know expectations I mean you're you're at Ohio State so there's always um large expectations but maybe where they fell on the offense before now they fall on the defense so um they understand that Jack Sawyer seems to be the player that everybody i' imagine hopes that he continues to be how has he taken his play to another level in your scheme You Know Jack uh you know second half of last season he just developed a another level of confidence you know where he where he knew he could become dominant and really make plays that change the game you know JT has done that for us in the past and I think Jack uh you know clicked on about halfway through the year that he could be that guy too you know to go back to expectations coach you know sometimes when players talk about we haven't gotten gold pants we haven't won a national championship sometimes that can be counter productive it seems like this group it's really fueling them well a lot of those guys came back for those reasons you know so it's kind of it's kind of driven by those returning players and it's really up to me to uh make sure we're just getting better every day I mean I don't talk about those things you know they do that comes from them and my job is to make sure we improve every day improve M Caleb DS would make anything probably better whether it was in the kitchen or out on the field what has he done for your side of the ball with the range explosive ability thingss he's done in the past yeah number one he brings uh you know that air of professionalism to the meeting rooms so when he walks in the building he's serious about his business he's taken notes he's uh you know a guy who if he ever doeses make a mistake he's fixing it right away so those are things aside from his play which is outstanding that really rubs off on the other players are there some young guys we might see that we haven't seen in the past well you know we got a young linebacker RL ree who is who is really talented and um you know he's just been picking up the defense I me I think he's a guy that's that's going to flash you know you got uh you know Kaden Curry kinata Jackson or two dn's who uh may not be in the spotlight but they're real talented coach appreciate your time thanks for joining us thanks guys welcome back to Columbus as we wrap Key Takeaways From Ohio State and Schedule Preview things up here Ohio State kicking off this season August 31st against akan we've got them in prime time the next week here on the Big 10 Network against Western Michigan the conference slate starts in East Lancing they have a huge trip to Oregon on October 12th they go to Penn State in early November and finish up here against Michigan on November 30th not an easy schedule by any stretch there's going to be a ton of focus on that or Oregon game so I do want to start there I think Yogi we want to pick your brain a little bit right you've been watching Oregon for years this is your first time to be at an Ohio State practice you've actually had the unique situation of now being at both this year so we're not asking you to pick the game but the media pick that as the Big 10 championship game doesn't mean they'll be right how would you stack those rosters up against one another Well number one to watch those two programs compete I think for all of us like what a joy when you're looking at competitive Excellence with Dan landing and Ryan Day in their programs I think when you look at their roster it's kind of similar right they built through High School supplemented through the portal will Howard Dylan Gabriel and Company to me honestly they're very similar and you think about that game in Aon maybe there's a rematch maybe there's another rematch who knows this is going to be football at its best I I gotta be honest when I'm watching practice I'm thinking today every snap when they play will feel like the world is on the line and you can say that coach in every game but you don't feel it in every game I got to imagine it is two Titans when you go position by position imagine wide outs going up against DBS The Tackle going up against an edge rusher and Jack Sawyer like it is going to be everything we love about this game these two teams are Championship caliber I think they're worth the discussion and the votes at least from what I've seen among this training camp tour right now that game the second weekend of October in Eugene let's back things up a little bit though and just talk about what we saw today your big picture Impressions after watching the buck house you know they've always practice well I think today was the most physical practice that we've seen in in the Ryan day era now sometimes we get here in a different day and that has something to do with it all the teams that we've seen so far are practicing long longer than I can ever remember and it's probably because there's no two day so this was a long hard practice as you've said before this is a superb defense they have to find their offensive personality and what they want to do on offense and there's no one better than Chip Kelly to figure that out yeah I I go back to just watching the way guys interact we know I mentioned we know that this is an elite roster there's no question so what are some of the things that they're going to do the small things to get themselves over the edge and you see the leadership in this team really taking over and you know we had an opportunity to talk with Mickey and he said this off season was unbelievable because all he needed to do was throw the keys to to one of the leaders and they could run this thing so I think the type of team that they have right now is what they've been wanting to get to the experience now that they don't have to pay so many younger guys early they can sit back and look and that's how you build that depth when you talk about teams that can compete for championships that's how they're built you know I said this before we saw practice today you know the the players saying the gold pants we haven't won in that National Championship we haven't won that is such not I don't think that's always a healthy attitude because you're looking too far with this team I think it's the perfect attitude and they practice what they preach yeah I think this program under Ryan days leadership this year with this team cuz you're right past teams those guys are playing on Sundays right now they're playing a preseason game this veteran feel this team they are truly looking at it as an opportunity not as a burden not as a challenge so cannot wait to see this thing come to fruition they are a team on a mission we said this at the beginning before we had watched them practice you understand the sacrifices that guys made to come back absolutely guys who had other options and I think to all of your point you saw it manifest itself today all of the competition on that field that was driven largely by the players