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Two Weeks That Could Change The Future Of Ohio State Football · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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Welcome to Buckeyes tomorrow morning from Monday, January fifteenth, I'm your host,
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Tom Moore. The Akron game is in two hundred and twenty nine days,
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The game against Michigan in three hundred and twenty days. The Cotton Bowl game
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against Missouri that was just over two and a half weeks ago. But boy
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does that feel like a long, long, long time ago. I think
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right now for Ohio State fans. It was one of the darker, more
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down times for Ohio State football in recent memory. And then here we are
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not even technically halfway through the month of January, and life is varied very
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different. The future is looking very, very different and much much better in
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Columbus, Ohio than it did just back then. Kevin Noon of Bucket Huddle
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it joins me today to talk about that. He posted a thread on our
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huddle board and was basically asking just how differently people are viewing things now than
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they were in the wake of the Cotton Bowl, and Kevin, it is
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safe to say things have changed quite a bit over the last two and a
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half weeks. Yeah, and the response there has been very positive. I
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mean there's some people who are like, well, I didn't get too caught
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up in the Cotton Bowl. Well, it doesn't matter because a lot of
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things were trending poorly at that point. Just in addition to Ohio State's milk
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toast efforts at least offensively on offense. In that Cotton Bowl game, Ohio
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State was watching its biggest rival getting ready to play in the National semi finals,
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unbeknownst to everybody that they would go on and win the whole arn't thing.
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You know, there could have been mass exodus from the program just because
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of bad feelings and everything else of just how things kind of ended up,
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you know, on a three year losing jag against the team up north,
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a three year losing jag of not getting to the Big Ten championship game,
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being out of the college football playoff for the last couple of years, and
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we sit here today with almost everybody returning in the class, some shiny new
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transfer portal players. You know, recruiting for twenty five is looking great.
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You know, what a refreshed coaching roster that is still in flux at this
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point. There are a lot I mean, it's it's just polar opposites in
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a lot of ways, and and a lot of people said, yeah,
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I was, you know, I was ready to drink you know, arsenic
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on on the twenty ninth, and right now I'm ready to drink you know.
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Christall It's like, all right, well, maybe we shouldn't get that
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excited yet. There's still long ways to go. But it's it's it's it's
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a significant change. Yeah, it's probably better to save these the champagne until
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after the you know, the wins are actually on the on the record book,
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but they are. Things are certainly trending a whole heck of a lot
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better than they were a few weeks ago. And I think a lot that
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starts with the guys coming back who could have gone to the NFL draft back
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in December. I think after the Michigan game, Tony Gerderman and I went
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through and looked and thought, you know, you could. You could have
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five guys, six guys sitting out the cup and bowl, and you only
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had one and that was Marvin Harrison. And he was sort of the only
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one who you knew, knew for sure was not coming back. Mike Hall
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was. There was certainly a lot of smoker on Mike Hall not coming back.
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He didn't come back, but then they batted a thousand on everyone else.
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You get back both your defensive ends, you get back, Tyler Williams,
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you get back. You've got your whole corner unit back together. Lathan
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Ransom is back, Donovan Jackson is back, a Mecca Buka's back, Travon
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Henderson's back. I mean that is that could be, you know, not
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quite half of the All Big Ten first team next year and they're all coming
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back, and that is you know, I think that that is certainly a
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little bit unusual based on how things have typically gone for Ohio State. Some
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of that may be reflective of a combination of nil changing some of the calculus
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on do I have to go to the draft or do I not, but
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also sort of the unfinished business. That's something that Denzel Burke talked about,
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that Jack Sawyer talked about while we were at the Cotton Bowl. I think
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all of that plays in and to get all of those guys back, that's
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that's like bringing in it the greatest transfer portal class in history. Yeah,
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we all we all champion. When Ohio State brings in a transfer and you
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just don't know necessarily how it's going to work out. I mean, new
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system, blah blah blah blah blah, and sometimes the NFL Returney is under
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sold because oh, well, I know what he's capable of. But he's
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somebody who knows how to warm up and go through the practice. And it's
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obviously if he if he has an NFL decision, he hasn't been terrible.
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I mean it's not a case of, well, this guy who has appeared
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one snap in four years is looking at his NFL decision and not unless he's
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looking to sell tickets there, I don't. I mean, he's not going
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to be getting that NFL opportunity. So uh yeah, it's it's it's huge
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for Ohio State, and I think it's really important to have a veteran ladent
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team this year more than any as it being the first year of the eighteen
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team Big Ten, the first year of the twelve team Playoff. You want
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to have these older bodies who have kind of been there and seen that.
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While they haven't necessarily seen Washington, Oregon, USC, UCLA, they haven't
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seen multiple multiple rounds of the playoffs. They are they're further along physically,
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they're further along developmentally to be able to handle the riggers of what could be
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a much longer season, what could be a very different season. Dare I
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say ten and two wins the big ten? I don't know. I'm not
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ready to pick two losses against Ohio State, but I'm also going to play
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the odds there and say that we can count the number of twelve and oh
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Ohio State teams on a pretty short list. So it's it's big. It's
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really big. Yeah, it is really big, and also really big some
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of the additions they've brought in through the transfer portal. Only three names this
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offseason so far, could be more. Well, We're keeping an eye on
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some potential names from Alabama this month, and of course the portal will open
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up again after spring. The Buckeyes brought in Josh Shimmons, for example,
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after spring ball last year, and he was a very very impactful player for
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them. But the three guys they've brought in have all answered I think some
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pretty significant questions. All three guys coming in from Power five programs. Quarterback
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Will Howard, running back quin Shawn Judkins, center Seth McLoughlin. None of
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them are absolute lead pipe locks to be a Heisman finalist or anything, but
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all three of them also do have a pretty solid track record of playing at
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a pretty high level of the sport and certainly are all at least at the
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very least an opportunity to raise the floor of what this Ohio State team could
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be because you had the uncertainty at the center position with Carson Hinsman in December,
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the uncertainty with the running back position in terms of a huge exodus from
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that room last year, and then the quarterback was with Kyle McCord, leaving
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all three of those guys sort of. You know, they are at the
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very least good solid patches in you know, over the holes in the drywall.
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There there are four transfers, sir, you are banned from ever going
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back down to Athens. They also got the tight end out of Ohio University.
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That's right, I forgot I you know what someone said, three tight
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at three transfers. Yes, Kas America, the tight end from Ohio University,
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who also fills that hole where they did not have great blocking at the
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tight end position last year. Sorry, sorry, I will have to go
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to the go to the you have to do some Jackie O's ail Mary's or
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something. Yeah, pay my pay my respect to the bagel Street Deli the
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next time and down in Athens. Very sorry, sorry, I love Bagel
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Street Deli. But getting back to the show itself, Yeah, these are
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you know, these are big gets, because this is not just filling up
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your coffers just to fill up your coffers. Ohio State obviously comes into the
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twenty four season with a quarterback question the departure of Kyle McCord. Devin Brown
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gets hurt during the Cotton Bowl. Lincoln Keenhole's thrown into an untenable situation at
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that point. Now you bring in Will Howard, somebody who has played a
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lot of college football. A lot of people want to port his numbers over
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from Kansas State, and it say, wow, this isn't going to work
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out. Well, let's just say this to be honest. He's not been
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necessarily throwing it to a Mecca Buca and Carnel Tate and Brandon Ennis and Jeremiah
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Smith and so on and so forth. So you know, that's that's there.
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Quinn Shawn Judkins gives Ohio State really arguably the best one two punch,
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and people are gonna yell at me. It's like, what about Dallan Hayden
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When we're talking about a one two punch. You know, we'll get into
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a third one then Daln Hayden's in the mix. But with him and Trey
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Henderson, you know, I think that this is something that Ohio State has
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not had for quite some time. I think we talked about it on another
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show about the last time Ohio State had such a ab type of tandem at
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the running back position. And we're going back a pretty decent amount to get
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there. And then obviously with offensive linemen South McLoughlin, that's a huge get.
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I mean, if I had a nickel for every time that I had
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to say offensive line on any Ohio State podcast that I've been on, I
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could probably retire because it was very much a front and center issue. Now.
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Of course, the problem with McLoughlin is is he a center? Is
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the guard? You know, everybody's last memory of him as a center in
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the Rose Bowl not the best one. But you have a whole off season
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to kind of work through these things. And if you golf with any regularity,
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I'm pretty sure you've had a moment in your golfing career where you've had
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the yips. It just it just happens. It just is what it is.
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I'm in a twenty year period of still having the yips, just not
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a good golfer. So I think that this is very big for Ohio State.
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And while we are see programs like Texas and Florida State doing a really
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good job in the portal as well, I think for Ohio State, which
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had been very selective in previous years and has just started to open up a
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little bit more over the last couple I think that this is a proof of
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concept because you know what all of this takes, bringing all the NFL guys
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back, going out and getting to the portal money, and it seems like
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Ohio State and its inil collectives are all finally pointed in the same direction.
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It feels like there's a little bit of a sense of purpose and a little
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bit of a sense of direction, like you said there, where you're not
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necessarily splashing the pot for the true freshmen, which has not really worked out
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great for the programs that have done that, the Texas A and M's and
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the Miamis of the world. You bring back some of the veteran guys.
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That's what Michigan did last year. They did a very purposeful NL push to
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bring back those veteran guys for a fourth year, and you see where that
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got them. Ohio State sort of following that model now, so we'll see
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where it gets them. One of the big change that has been I think
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very welcomed by the ohisdate fan base, especially in one case some coaching staff
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changes. That coaching staff overhaul is still a little bit in the works right
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now. Perry Eliano Parker fleming out as of the moment we're recording this Matt
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Gery in. So those are the changes right now. James lour Nightis is
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sort of temporarily the tenth coach that he's on the road right now doing some
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recruiting stuff, but he may or may not remain the tenth coach depending on
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what they do at some of the other spots. But there's also potentially a
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play caller coming in, Ryan Day reportedly looking for some one offensive coordinator.
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I think some of these changes are more necessary than others, but I think
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that a lot of these are potentially you know, handing over the play calling
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just has felt like something that probably needed to happen and something that might make
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a big difference in those really tight late game situations. So it feels like
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maybe now Ryan Day, with his back against the wall a little bit after
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that Cotton Bowl, making some of those decisions that you know, I think
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have maybe been in the works for a little bit of time. I mean,
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it certainly had to be an uneasy feeling sitting four feet away from Eli
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Drinkowitz on the dais and him going on and on about all the virtues of
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finally checking his ego and giving up play calling and how successful and wild and
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wild and wonderful it was, and Ryan Day is sitting there looking like he
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wanted to be kind of anywhere other than on that dais. But uh,
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yeah, I think that these coaching changes are important. Uh you want to
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make sure that you keep your your staff fresh. And uh I think one
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of the things that we saw toward the end of the Mark d Antonio error
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era or error at Michigan State is he wouldn't make coaching changes. He would
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reshuffle the deck chairs, but he wouldn't bring in any new new coaches.
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And I do think that there's a level of staleness that comes out of that
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so Ohio State kind of going outside the family inside the family, you know,
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with with the replacement for Perry Aliano, that's inside the family. He
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comes over from Oklahoma State with Jim Knowles had experience at Duke as well,
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or maybe he was just at Duke all along. I don't it all kind
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of runs together, but you know, that's somebody that can work with Jim
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Knowles that has has that experience. But I think then with an OC you
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look at Ohio State going outside the family a little bit more. We still
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don't know a name as of the time we're recording here, But then if
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you give that guy some hiring firing power or whatever, then you maybe diversify
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the staff even a little bit more. And I think it keeps everybody,
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everybody hungry, and everybody moving, moving in the right direction, because the
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one thing I'll say about Urban was you never knew what was coming around the
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corner. And it seems like with Ryan Day, He's he doesn't create as
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hostile as of a work and iron as Urban did. Yeah. Urban never
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wanted anyone to be comfortable, and comfortable is not necessarily a bad thing,
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but it can be, you know, it can comfort can sometimes breed complacency
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and some big shakeups going on inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center this offseason,
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and it got me thinking back to other times when Ohio State has ended the
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season with something of a thud or sort of been in a little bit of
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a down cycle, and things that have just sort of changed the mood around
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the fan base in a way that the last couple of weeks have The one
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that the first one that jumped out to me was the hiring of Urban Meyer
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after they were six and six. They just lost to Michigan in twenty eleven
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for the first time in eight years, and then by the next what was
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it, Monday night, I think Urban Meyers standing at a podium at Ohio
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State and you might as well. The twenty eleven season no longer existed in
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the minds of Ohio State fans. Everyone was just thinking about twenty twelve that
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point. The other one was Jim Trussell his first season, coming in looking
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just kind of okay. They were six and four going into the Michigan game,
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and then they win the Michigan game in n ourbur first time in Narber
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since since nineteen eighty seven. At that point, that had that happened in
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fourteen years, And that was another one, boy that that changed everything around
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the atmosphere and the expectation around the Ohio State football program. This this,
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Kevin to me, is I don't this is not quite Urban Meyer level,
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I don't think. But this has been a pretty dramatic swing in the last
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few weeks. And we will when we have the gift of hindsight, when
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we're a year down the line, two years down the line, and we
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see what the twenty four season ended up being, I think we'll really determine
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where this ranks because we're dealing with only half of the equation. But yeah,
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I mean I certainly remember both of those instances that you'd mentioned, the
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eleven season, which is no longer cannon in Ohio State's you know, collective
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memory, and going into twelve, I mean I was back on the beat
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at that point, and then the Tressel first win. I was actually out
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of state working in another group for a couple few years when in television,
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but I remember watching that one and there was a huge turnaround. As I
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was heavily involved with the Ohio State University Alumni Association Dallas chapter as I as
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I was there and just really talking to a lot of people about the excitement
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and how things kind of changed and how outlooks changed. But you know,
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even with that, even with that first win, I don't think people people
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had the run up because, as you said, it was a six and
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four team. I think going into that game, I think that, you
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know, I think that this is much more akin to going into twelve with
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with urban Meyer being named and all of this, I think there was a
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lot more directed hopes and dreams and whatever. I mean, Yes, Jim
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Trussell delivered a pretty speech on the floor of the basketball arena saying in three
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hundred and ten days and everything else, but nobody knew he was you know,
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he was a successful coach at Youngstown State. I mean the concept worked
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in one double A at that I mean, I think it was still called
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one double A at that point. But we didn't know. But urban Meyer,
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everybody had seen firsthand what he was capable of doing with a good team.
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I'm not going to talk about that Fiesta ball all that much in the
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in the BCS, but that one went on to ring true with a hoisting
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of a trophy in twenty fourteen, and a lot of people still really angry
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that there was not an opportunity for that twenty twelve team to show what he
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could do in the postseason. But you know, fast forward back to today,
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I think that I think that people are going to be excited with what
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this team is moving into, especially as Michigan is seeing more and more of
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its players opting to go to the NFL Draft. I mean, they had
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such a glut of players between guys that were exhausting their eligibility or guys that
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who legitimately have their own NFL decisions. I think that the balance of power
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is going to be righted, you know, on the on the fields here
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in Columbus in three hundred and however many days, as Tom said at the
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beginning of the show, and there will be punching pie for all three hundred
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and twenty days. And Jim Tressel' speech was three hundred and ten days,
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So we're almost to the Jim Tressel versary. I think that was January eighteenth
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of two thousand and one, I believe. So, yeah, we're almost
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there to the what twenty third anniversary of that speech. Goodness, we are
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all getting old, but yes, certainly, certainly the things seem like they're
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trending up in Columbus, right now, and as Kevin sort of mentioned very
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briefly at the beginning, recruiting things are looking pretty darn good for the Buckeyes
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too. Could have some more positive recruiting news for Ohio State coming up this
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week. You're going to want to be at bucke huddled up to keep up
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with all of that. We've got some plenty of conversations about where the direction
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of the offensive coordinator search, where that might be headed, plenty of conversations
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about some of the recruitments that could be coming to a close in Ohio State's
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favor in the coming days and weeks. Lots of stuff about the team as
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well. There's a lot of stuff talk talk about right now at bucke huddle
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dot com, and we would love to have you there to talk about it
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with all of us. As we've said before, membership there the price of
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a lousy chainstore pizza, so and actually probably with tax and tip and delivery,
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you're probably well under the price of a lousy chain store pizza at this
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point. So why don't you give us a layoff the pizza for a little
19:37
in January and join us at buckey huddle dot com instead. There's a lot
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of stuff to talk about. We would love to see you there. That
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will do it for today. Thank you guys all for joining us. Have
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a great day. We will talk to you tomorrow