Ohio State Cotton Bowl media day: News from Brian Hartline, Gabe VanSickle, Carnell Tate and more

Summary

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The Bill and Doug Show: Ohio State Football Talk

Ohio State Cotton Bowl Media Day: Reactions & Insights

Date: December 29, 2025
Hosts: Doug Lesmerises & Bill Landis (Blue Wire)

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Overview

Bill Landis and Doug Lesmerises bring fans onto the field at AT&T Stadium for the Ohio State Buckeyes’ media day ahead of the Cotton Bowl. This episode is packed with insights from candid conversations with coaches and players, focusing on coaching responsibilities, offensive line battles, injury updates, and how the Buckeyes are preparing as defending national champs. The tone is a mix of expert analysis, relatable frustration at media day time constraints, and a deep connection to Ohio State football culture.

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Key Discussion Points

1. The Realities of Media Day

[01:06-02:42]

• Short on time, long on questions: Both hosts vent about the stress of only having 45 minutes to speak to every player and coach.
  • Bill Landis: “I wish media day was three hours... It’s torturous.” [01:36]
  • Doug Lamoris: "You look down, it's like, oh, I've been talking to you for 12 minutes... so neither one of us got all of what we wanted." [02:12]
• Rare opportunity to talk with assistant coaches after a season with limited access.

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2. Play Calling and Sideline Dynamics

Brian Hartline’s Role

[02:49-07:46]

• Hartline wants to be on the sideline:
  • Hartline tells Landis he’d prefer to call plays from the sideline rather than the box:
    “I want to see, I want to look in their eyes.” [03:19]
• How play calling will actually work:
  • Despite collaborative talk, Ryan Day will be the definitive play caller for the Cotton Bowl:
    • “...when we get to the play, like, there’s one voice and that voice will now be Coach Day’s.” —Keenan Bailey (paraphrased by Doug, [05:56])
• Booth vs. field coaching:
  • The hosts analyze who might go into the booth if Hartline moves down:
    • Keenan Bailey looks likely to resume his role upstairs [03:53].
• Collaborative culture:
  • Hartline: “If you think Ryan Day was just sitting there silently on the headset, you’re crazy. That’s not what it was.” [04:34]
  • “There was less yelling this year, so take that for what it’s worth.” —Bill on Hartline’s input [04:51]
• Potential impact:
  • Doug suggests receiver development could benefit from Hartline being on the field:
    • “I do think Brian Hartline can give you that when he’s down on the field...he just can’t give you that when he’s up in the booth.” [07:24]

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3. Offensive Line Decisions: Right Guard Battle

Gabe VanSickle vs. Josh Padilla

[07:46-10:00]

• VanSickle’s confidence:
  • “He felt confident from the start of fall camp...moving people more than he thought he would.” —Doug [07:51]
• Strengths of each contender:
  • VanSickle is larger and physically stronger (“Pillar of strength”—Luke Montgomery, relayed by Doug [08:28])
  • Padilla, a natural center, is praised for wrestling mentality and grit but undersized:
    • “In terms of like, I mean, VanSickle’s got about 20 pounds on him, doesn’t he?” —Bill [09:07]
• Who will play?
  • Both likely to see action, but VanSickle probably starts due to matchups and size [08:39, 09:43].
  • “Matchups might dictate Gabe VanSickle playing a little more, if not every snap.” —Doug [09:43]

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4. Receiver Updates: Carnell Tate’s Health and Attitude

[10:00-13:37]

• Carnell Tate is ‘100% healthy’:
  • Injury first appeared during Purdue pregame; he and staff targeted a playoff return:
    • “He and the training staff were thinking then about the playoff...that was their target.” —Bill [10:14]
  • Tate never considered shutting it down:
    • “I said like, ever a thought of, like, this is it, I'm done shutting it down? And he said, like, never. I don’t know where that came from.” —Bill [11:11]
• Frustration over injury updates:
  • Doug wishes for more transparent communication:
    • “There’s nothing wrong with giving a timeline...it would have gone a long way in calming people down.” [12:46]
• Tate’s confidence:
  • Bill: “How many receivers in the country are better than you?”
  • Carnell Tate: “None.” [13:18]
  • When did you start feeling like that?
  • Tate: “Always.” [13:27]

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5. Young Buckeyes & Scout Team Development

QB Air Noland & Cornerback Devin Sanchez

[14:43-17:48]

• Air Noland (Scout QB):
  • Very comfortable with media, credits scout team work for development. Shared funny stories about imitating Arch Manning and Bryce Underwood to help the team prepare [14:59].
• Devin Sanchez (Freshman CB):
  • Calls his season a “roller coaster,” acknowledges mistakes made in real games over practice:
    • “I had a bad game and had to deal with that. That was the UCLA game.” —Sanchez (via Bill) [15:20]
  • Confident despite adversity; teammates have his back:
    • “I asked Jermaine about Devin Sanchez getting ready to do this and he said it’s just all about confidence and this guy has it.” —Bill [16:54]
  • Hosts caution fans not to give up on young defenders who struggle early:
    • “It’s just like, okay, this guy can’t cover anybody. Show me the next one. And he would not be the first Ohio State player to go through the fire early and come out as a better player.” —Doug [17:12]

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6. Keenan Bailey’s Evolving Role & Tight End Usage

[17:59-20:56]

• Bailey as future receiver coach?
  • Noncommittal, but acknowledges "big opportunity" ahead if Hartline were promoted [17:59]
• Tight end room ownership:
  • Bailey is blunt with his position group:
    • “When he took over the tight end room two years ago, told the room, ‘You’re the weakest link on this team.’” —Doug [19:09]
  • Honest about 13/14 personnel successes and failures:
    • “We own that. Like, it’s not... we just did not put ourselves in the best position to be successful.” —Bailey (relayed by Doug, 19:48)
  • Bailey wants tight ends heavily involved but is candid about issues late in the season:
    • Rested Will Kacsmarick to avoid wearing him down, referencing Cade Stover’s late-season struggles [20:19]
• Hartline’s red zone philosophy:
  • “If it’s up to me, I’d be light all the time.” —Brian Hartline on personnel [20:32]
  • Bill and Doug joke that, deep down, Hartline wishes for “nine receivers on the field all the time.” [20:39]
• Game plan takeaways:
  • Offensive approach late in the season was “put in a blender,” partly due to injuries and play-caller transitions [20:56]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "If you think Ryan Day was just sitting there silently on the headset, you’re crazy." —Brian Hartline via Bill Landis [04:34]
• “Collaborative, collaborative, collaborative… but when we get to the play, there’s one voice and that will now be Coach Day’s.” —Keenan Bailey paraphrased [05:56]
• "He felt confident from the start of fall camp… was moving people more than he thought he would." —Doug on Gabe VanSickle [07:51]
• “How many receivers in the country are better than you?”
  “None.”
  “When did you start feeling that?”
  “Always.” —Bill Landis & Carnell Tate [13:18–13:27]

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Segment Timestamps

• [01:06-02:42] — Media Day frustrations and limits
• [02:49-07:46] — Play-calling structure, Hartline vs. Day, sideline dynamics
• [07:46-10:00] — O-line talk: VanSickle vs. Padilla at right guard
• [10:00-13:37] — Carnell Tate’s return, injury approach, and swagger
• [14:43-15:20] — QB Air Noland’s scout team experience
• [15:20-17:48] — Devin Sanchez, trials as a freshman CB
• [17:59-20:56] — Keenan Bailey on TE use and increased role on offense
• [20:32-20:56] — Hartline’s take on heavy vs. light personnel in the red zone

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Conclusion

Bill and Doug bring their signature blend of in-depth football acumen and easygoing banter to break down Ohio State’s Cotton Bowl preparations. Key issues include the handing over of play-calling duties (with all eyes on Ryan Day), offensive line changes, Carnell Tate’s resolved injury saga, and the readiness of young defenders. The episode is loaded with practical insight and player voice for Buckeye fans hungry for real talk leading into the playoff.

For more on the Buckeyes’ prep, watch for further content on YouTube, podcast feeds, and Bill & Doug’s Substack.

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Transcript

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[Bill Landis]

Welcome back to the Bill and Doug Show. Doug Lamoris and Bill Landis at AT&T Stadium, where the Cotton bowl will be played on New Year's Eve. But it was talking day on December 29th. Bill Landis, Ohio State just held its 45 minute media day on this field. Miami, they're getting off the buses and going in the locker room and they'll be coming out to start their media day here in about five, five or six minutes. And then you talk ball.

[Doug Lamoris]

You do talk ball. We talk. We got to talk. Did you get, did you get to talk as much ball as you wanted to during Ohio State's media day?

[Bill Landis]

I had a knot in my stomach going into it. I had a knot in my stomach during it and I had a knot in my stomach after it. There's never, I wish media day was three hours because, yeah, you get every player on the roster, every coach on the roster. I was talking to Brian Hartline and James Laurinitis, Matt Guerreri and Tim Walton were like sitting behind him. I think it was Tim, three coaches. I was like, I would love to talk to the three of you also, but I have to be talking to the guy who is coaching his last three games with the Buckeyes and we need to find out what he says. And it's torturous.

[Doug Lamoris]

It is torturous. I spent a lot of time talking with Tyler Bowen, which cut into some, which is great. Like, it's good to talk to people. We have not talked to assistant coaches really all year. So this is a great opportunity to do that. But then you look down, it's like, oh, I've been talking to you for 12 minutes. Yeah. And it's only a 45 minute media day, so neither one of us got all of what we wanted. But I still think we got some good, interesting stuff.

[Bill Landis]

Think about that though. That this is such a fraught situation that it makes you feel guilty about talking to an offensive line coach.

[Doug Lamoris]

I don't ever want to feel that way.

[Bill Landis]

No.

[Doug Lamoris]

I don't like the way that I feel right now. No.

[Bill Landis]

So we didn't talk to everybody, but we did talk to some people. Why don't we run through the most interesting things that we heard? Let me start with Brian Hartline.

[Doug Lamoris]

Yeah.

[Bill Landis]

Cause I did talk to Brian hartline Probably for 10 or 12 minutes. And one of the things that came out of this was when I asked Ryan Day about this, when we've talked to Ryan Day in Columbus, where would Brian Hartline be on game day? Because Ryan Day had said he will be the play caller. Now, Brian Hartline had been that during the season. And Ryan Day said Brian Hartline will be upstairs in the box where he's been all season. Asked Brian Hartline about that. He said they are working it out and he would prefer to be on the sideline. And so what I think he's saying is he would prefer to be on the sideline as a play caller, just like Matt Patricia is. He said the same thing that Matt Patricia says as a defensive coordinator, which is I want to see, I want to look in their eyes. Right. But that is difficult to do, I think, especially for a first time play call. Although I think Patricia has always done it that way as a defensive play caller.

[Doug Lamoris]

Yeah.

[Bill Landis]

So he would like to be on the sideline for this game. And he said he and Brian Hartline are talking about that. I think if that's the case, then Billy Fessel, the quarterback's coach, would still be upstairs. I guess Keenan Bailey maybe could be upstairs. Right.

[Doug Lamoris]

That would be. You're not going to put your offensive line coach up top. You're probably not going to put your running backs coach up top.

[Bill Landis]

Right.

[Doug Lamoris]

So that would then. And I think you do want two of your main, whatever, five or six offensive guys up upstairs. Keenan Bailey has coached from the booth before. So that would not be new territory for him. So if Brian Hartline does move down. I talked to Keenan Bailey. I didn't ask him this because I didn't know that Brian said that. But my anticipation would be the. Keenan goes back upstairs.

[Bill Landis]

Yeah. So it's one of those. We've been having these play calling conversations. I think it exists with every team at every level of football is like, what's the play calling structure really like? And everybody says it's collaborative, it's collaborative, it's collaborative. And so Brian Hartline, in talking about it today was like sort of making it sound like, you know what I mean? This really hasn't been that different than it's ever been. He said Ryan Day always has very strong. He's a great, has a great offensive mind. He always has opinions about it. Brian Hartline said, if you think Ryan Day was just sitting there silently on the headset, you're crazy.

[Doug Lamoris]

Right?

[Bill Landis]

That's not what it was. He said there was less yelling this year, so take that for what it's worth. But they never want to make it as easy as, like, well, I was calling the plays and it was collaborative, but now he's calling the plays and it's collaborative. And so like, sometimes when you ask people about it, you just get more of a mishmash of stuff. But Ryan Day said he's going to call plays. And if Brian, if the idea has been, well, Brian Hartline needs to be in the box to call plays. If he winds up on the sideline, that means he's even less, less involved, I think, in the, in the play calling structure of things. Because, yeah, he'll have opinions, sure, on the headset, just like always. But I just, I would find it an interesting move because he said it's what he would want to do anyway, but he sort of had to be upstairs because he's been the guy.

[Doug Lamoris]

I, I did talk with Keenan Bailey about that a little bit and he said the same thing. Collaborative, collaborative, collaborative. And that's not really any different than, than from how it's been. And he also made the point that like, he and Brian Hartline and Ryan Day have been together for like a decade. Yeah. And Billy Fessler has been around in two different stints for part of that decade. So like that, that little four, group of four there has like a pretty good rapport, I think, when it comes to offensive play calling. But the other thing that Bailey said, like, like it's collaborative. We're talking about it, we're figuring out what works best. And then when we get to the play, like, there's one voice and that voice will now be Coach Days is what Keenan said. And I think probably in the past that voice was, at least at some, some points Brian Hartlines. And I don't think that'll be the case for this.

[Bill Landis]

No, I think it was Brian Hartley. I did enough conversations during the year with people. Again, I think, you know, Ryan Day's the coach, he's always in charge. But the whole point is, you know, you don't announce that Media Day is happening constantly. You can just let Media Day happen. We understand that it's happening. So I think I find it interesting if he's on the sideline. And again, I think it, I don't know that it's going to make the receiver play better, but it's just one of those things. Again, if you're talking about getting back to the ideal coaching setup, it really is, I think maybe Keenan Bailey and Billy Fessler upstairs, Brian Hartline down on the sideline in the thick of it, being a great receivers coach, everybody contributing and Ryan Day being the final voice at the end. I think that's their A plus.

[Doug Lamoris]

Yeah.

[Bill Landis]

Situation. And we understood why it wasn't that this year, but now it's going to be that.

[Doug Lamoris]

Now I think it is going to be that. And I actually do think for as good as Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate are, I do think there's probably a little area where they can improve if Brian Heartland is on the sideline, like, hey, man, great route, but what if he did this instead of this and it's even better route kind of thing, right? Like, I do think Brian Hartline can give you that when he's down on the field, and he just can't give you that when he's up in the booth calling the plays and then getting organized for the next series. So, you know, as we talked about Ryan Day, I'll have some different things to manage with calling the game and managing the game, but I think he's ready for that. And otherwise, I do think the offensive staff is set up pretty well.

[Bill Landis]

All right, you did a lot of offensive line talk about this right guard spot. What'd you find?

[Doug Lamoris]

A lot of confidence that gave Van Seko, I think, right. He's, he said he's, he's, he felt confident from the start of fall camp, just like found himself in the right spot a lot, was moving people more than he thought he would. And he felt like at that point he wasn't exactly sure what his role was going to be, but that he would be able to help the team this year if called upon. And obviously now he is being called upon. And he said like when he got into games earlier in the year, like even, even the Grambling State game, he said like that was kind of fast, and that's a, that's a FCS team. But I think now he's gotten used to the speed of it. Everyone I talked to talked about, like, how strong of a player he is, how good.

[Bill Landis]

Physically strong.

[Doug Lamoris]

Physically strong.

[Bill Landis]

Interesting.

[Doug Lamoris]

Pillar of strength, I think is what Luke Montgomery called him good in the run game and continuing to prove in the past game. So it does sound like both he and Josh Padilla will play.

[Bill Landis]

Really.

[Doug Lamoris]

And Tyler Bowen said, like, we're still kind of working through who will start, but I really think Van Sickle is going to start just sort of based off context clues. But I would imagine we'll see both those guys play. And they did, like, they sort of had the starters at their own tables, and they had those two, Josh Padilla and Gay Vensical sitting together at, like, the starting right guard table.

[Bill Landis]

Interesting. Okay. And you think, is it particular in this matchup with maybe a bigger defensive line for Miami that Van Sickle is just a physically bigger player?

[Doug Lamoris]

I think so.

[Bill Landis]

Padilla probably projects as a center long term and is maybe one of those sort of classically undersized centers who is setting protections and doing all those kind of things. But in terms of like, I mean, fan, sickle's got about £20 on him, doesn't he?

[Doug Lamoris]

He does, yeah. I mean, they, they like Josh Padilla because he's like a, a wrestler and that mentality shows up and he plays bigger than he is. Similar. He's not as small as Kobe Boren, but I think there's some similar vibes there. I mean, you talk to people about Josh's game, but yeah, there's. There's that. And then there's also just being 6, 5 and 3 15, which I think gave Van Sickle as opposed to like six to 300.

[Bill Landis]

Five.

[Doug Lamoris]

Yeah. Maybe closer to 300. Okay. That Josh Padilla is. And also like, Josh Padilla hasn't played in a while. So, like, when you're in that position, you can tend to drop even more weight. So for all I know, Josh Padilla might be under 300 at this point. I just think, like, matchups might dictate Gabe Vensicle playing a little more if, if not every snap.

[Bill Landis]

Okay. I talked to Cornell Tate for a while. Cornell Tate said he is 100. And he said while he was missing those three games, he said the, the. The injury first showed up in the Purdue pregame, that it wasn't anything before that. But he said he and the training staff were thinking then about the playoff. And so, like, that Was what was. Was on their mind. Like, that was their target. That was. So if. If I think it's then now for us, as we look back, if you're wondering, like, man, like, oh, it's one week now, it's two weeks now, it's three weeks. If they were thinking that, like, that's what matters, that's what the goal is. And. And now here he is, and he is 100%. I. I sort of threw the Jackson, Smith, and Jigba scenario at him. You know, soft tissue injury. You maybe, you know, come back too fast. You re aggravated. It basically ruins Jackson's whole last season at Ohio State. And Carnell Tate said, well, that's his body. This is my body. It's different things. Like, he was like, old man, stop with your comparisons. Not the first time I've gotten that impression from any player in 20 years of this, but. And I said, like, ever. Ever. A thought of, like, this is it. I'm done shutting it down or whatever. And he said, like, never. I don't know where that came from.

[Doug Lamoris]

Good.

[Bill Landis]

So, you know, when I. When I asked Brian Hartline about Carnell Tate, you know, he saw both the injuries for the receivers, he did sort of bring up, like, there's all these things to consider. There's the now, there's the future. Like, Brian Hartline kind of went there a little bit, but then, like, if. If. And I just think it, you know, in the moment, it's like, there's another game. Carnell Tate's not playing. But if. If, if. Then we fans, more importantly, knew, oh, well, Carnell Tate is just making sure that he's ready for this because that's what matters the most to him. Then it's like, okay, oh, with the.

[Doug Lamoris]

Michigan game included in that, probably, But.

[Bill Landis]

But he said the postseason, right. And that is not to say that the. That the. That the Michigan game doesn't matter, but. And he didn't say this about the Mission game, but, like, the three games he actually missed, he was. He sort of said, like, I thought we could win without me.

[Doug Lamoris]

Yeah, for those.

[Bill Landis]

You know, and now. But I'm. I'm more important and needed for this, and here I am, and I'm 100 healthy, so. So, you know, save people a lot of aggravation if, like, you, like, go back and, like, if you just knew that in the moment, oh, they're just like. And maybe we did. But still also, like, is it that they're being cautious and targeting something, or is it like, oh, man, it's Lingering. It's lingering. What's going on? And he's saying no. We were being smart and cautious and targeting something.

[Doug Lamoris]

That was always my assumption, though. Like, I. I was never like, he. Of course he's not shutting it down. They could have done themselves a lot of favors maybe, if they would have just said that. That's my thing with, like, not to deviate into the injury conversation. Like, there's nothing wrong with giving a timeline. We don't need injury specifics necessarily, but like, a timeline of we think it's going to be a week or two or three or whatever, he'll be back kind of thing would have gone a long way and I think calming people down. But at least now that we're here, Carnell Tate says he's healthy. That's both he and Jeremiah Smith now saying they both feel 100 healthy, which seems like it's probably good news for the buckets. Yeah.

[Bill Landis]

Colonel Taste a good dude. I said, how many receivers in the country are better than you? And he said, none. And I said, when did you start feeling that?

[Doug Lamoris]

When?

[Bill Landis]

He said, always. And it's just like, okay. Like, he's just like, eighth grade. Carnell Tate was like, there's nobody in the world that's better than me. And it's like, I mean, it served him well.

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[Lowe's Announcer]

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[Bill Landis]

All right, who else, who else did you talk to?

[Doug Lamoris]

TV and Sinclair. Very confident dude. Like, we've. We've mentioned this before. Like, he spent so much time talking with the media and his recruitment because he's. He's from close by and Bell Fountain that, like, he just. He knows what this is.

[Bill Landis]

Yeah.

[Doug Lamoris]

And like it's not overwhelmed by any of it. Has spent his season on the scout team, which I think is great for him. He's pretty excited about the development that that has afforded him. And I don't want to give like too much of it away, I guess, but. But the one like, he shared some funny stories about like playing Arch Manning and playing Bryce Underwood on the scout team. Both like how fun it was, but also like how that helped him. So it was a good conversation.

[Bill Landis]

Yeah. I did talk to Devin Sanchez for a while, another five star freshman for the Ohio State Buckeyes. And the conversation, he called it a roller coaster, his season. He said there's been ups, there's been downs. And then he referenced like, I had a bad game and I had to like, deal with that. And that was the UCLA game. And so we just had a conversation about like making your mistakes in public instead of in practice and being able to deal with that. But he was at a table with Jermaine Matthews and again, the way this setup is, they have like this, the stars sort of have like a backdrop and a bigger table. And for Ohio State, that was Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate and Julian Saying and Caleb Downs. And then all the starters are at smaller tables and then everybody else who isn't a starter was in chairs on the side. So they had Devin Sanchez and Jermaine Matthews, like his co starters at a table. They were sharing a table and Jaylen McLean and Lorenzo Stiles were sharing a table. But it's one of those, like, it has been an interesting conversation. I think at times it would have been fair when he was on the field in a dime package or when whether he was starting when Jermaine Matthews bumped inside because Lorenzo Styles was out and Devin Sanchez started an outside corner that I think you could have called him like a weak link of the defense. I think that would have been a fair thing. But. And he knows it and he knows that. And he was talking about like, I'm getting ready to play 60 snaps in consecutive games and that it is like the mental side of the ball that's more this than I. Jermaine was there. And I asked Jermaine about Devin Sanchez getting ready to do this and he said it's just all about confidence and. And this guy has it. So it's one of those things, like from afar, it's like, man feels like maybe teams are picking on him a little bit. He hasn't played as much lately. But in terms of what it means for him you know, this. This is not a guy who's off lost in the wilderness because he had a couple of bad games and I.

[Doug Lamoris]

Didn'T think he would be. But it's good. It's good to hear that from him. And I think that's a possession, a position that is, one, difficult to play as a freshman, and two, like, very easy to write off. The second you see a guy struggle, it's just like, okay, this guy can't cover anybody. Show me the next one. And he would not be the first Ohio State player to kind of go through the fire a little bit early and come out of it as a better player. I. I remain curious to see how much he might actually play in the playoff or if it's like more of a best 11 kind of approach for Ohio State. On defense, did you get any vibes on what he's expecting?

[Bill Landis]

Not. Not really.

[Doug Lamoris]

Yeah. Yeah. People don't want to give away the game plan. No.

[Bill Landis]

And it's hard, like, to try to get, like, into specifics about, like, yeah, what are you going to do in two days?

[Doug Lamoris]

Yeah.

[Bill Landis]

That's usually not where you get the best answers in a situation like this. So anybody else that you want to tell the folks about?

[Doug Lamoris]

I did. I just spent some time with Keenan Bailey trying to, like, delicately ask, like, hey, you're gonna be the receivers coach next year. And he was like, I. I don't know. He's like, I have experience with that room. We'll kind of see what happens. He did mention that he worked with Brian Hartline for six years. Yeah. In that receiver room. He did kind of double dip tight ends and receivers for the week that Brian Hartline was down in Florida doing his stuff with usf. But since Brian has been back, it's been Brian with the receivers and Keenan's been working with the tight ends. And the other thing I asked him is, like, again, I think they are just sort of, like, reticent to divulge much of what's changing within the offensive structure other than, obviously, Ryan Day calling plays. I said, like, I couldn't help but notice that you were standing awfully close to Ryan Day in the Big Ten Championship game. And he just sort of, like, shrugged and smiled like. Like, I think that was his way of saying, like, yes, there's more on my plate from a game planning perspective. But, like, I'm not trying to make that more than it is or throw anybody under the bus. But I think he's aware, as everyone else is, that this is, like, a pretty big opportunity for him to kind of show his stuff as an offensive mind with Brian Hartline wearing two hats.

[Bill Landis]

Yeah. Did you get into 13 and 14 personnel with Keenan Bailey at all?

[Doug Lamoris]

Yeah, so I, I said like, I, you know, I, I, I kind of lobbed it to him. I said like, you know, it was good, it was good against Michigan, it wasn't good against Indiana. Like, what do you make of all that? And he said like, we want, we want everything that comes with that. Like he's, he's, this is a guy when he took over the tight end room two years ago, told the room, you're the weakest link on this team. And they have been striving to put themselves to in a point or in a place where they can play a Big Ten championship and feel like they can put the game on their shoulders. But then they didn't handle it well. And yeah, like, we own that. Like, it's not, he didn't say like, because that happened, we're not going to play 13 and 14 because again, they're not divulging game plan. But I think there was like within his answer sort of like an admission of like, yeah, like we just did not put ourselves in the best position to be successful. Maybe we bit off a little more than we could chew there with, with that position group, but he remains confident in, in that group and I, I think that he should be especially with the top two guys. So it's not like the tight ends are going somewhere. Like they're, they're going, going away. You're going to see a lot of Will Kessmark. You're going to see a lot of Max Claire. I also asked about Will Cast Merrick, like not playing all that much like in the tail end of the season, like if he was hurt. He said he wasn't dealing with anything specific, but he was just thinking about like past seasons where like they had one tight end and it was Cade Stover. And by the time you got to the end of the season, Cade had like a bionic arm and could barely move. And he just didn't want to put Wilkat's Myrick in a similar situation. So they tried to steal some rest for him at the end of the regular season.

[Bill Landis]

I will say Brian Hartline was sort of asked about using all that heavy personnel in the red zone against Indiana and he said if it's up to me, I'd be light all the time. So like, yeah, he, I, I don't know that Brian Hartline, that was one of those things, like oh, you're the receivers coach. You're going to want nine receivers on the field all the time. And then like, so they sort of pushed back against that I think early in the year. And then now in this moment, Brian Hartland was like, yeah, I'm the receivers coach. Like, I want receivers on the field.

[Doug Lamoris]

So I think there was a lot going, like heart being somewhat removed from the preparation, Keenan being more involved. They have a ton of confidence in the tight end group. And Jeremiah and Carnot, like still not quite being 100%. Yeah, I think just all sort of got put into a blender and spit out an offensive game plan that wasn't very good.

[Bill Landis]

Okay. All right, we'll wrap it up here. We're going to go talk to some Miami guys about this game. Taco Ball we'll be putting up content. We have a big game breakdown coming pretty soon here on this feed on YouTube, on your podcast feeds, we'll be writing a bunch of stuff, doing some other video and audio content over on our substack. Bill and Doug osu.substack.com But we just mostly are glad that you guys are here hanging with us as we talk. Ball get ready for the Cotton bowl from AT&T Stadium. He's Bill Landis. I'm Doug Le Maurice. And that was the Bill and Doug Show. The McDonald's Snack Wrap is back. You brought it back. Ranch snack wrap. Spicy snack wrap. You broke the Internet for a snack snack wrap is back.

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