← The Bill and Doug Show: Ohio State Football Talk
The Bill and Doug Show: Ohio State Football Talk
Ohio State practice No. 9: Ryan Day seeking explosion, plus Ian Moore, Earl Little & tight ends
00:40:42
The Ohio State Buckeyes held their ninth practice of spring football on Monday, and head coach Ryan Day spoke to reporters after practice about.
Loading summary
Transcript131 lines
- [00:00]
Doug Lay
Neighbor, Emo And Doug, there's nowhere I wouldn't go to help someone customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual. Even if it means sitting front row at a comedy show.
- [00:12]
Emo
Hey, everyone. Check out this guy and his bird. What is this, your first date?
- [00:15]
Bill Landis
Oh, no.
- [00:16]
Doug Lay
We help people customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual together. We're married. Me to a human, him to a bird.
- [00:22]
Emo
Yeah, the bird looks out of your league anyways.
- [00:24]
Doug Lay
Only pay for what you need@libertymutual.com Liberty.
- [00:28]
Emo
Liberty. Liberty. Liberty.
- [00:30]
Capella University Announcer
There's a fire inside you you can't ignore. Stand still. Not a chance. You're a lifelong learner who's come this far. Now we're here to help you keep going further. Capella University. What can't you do? Visit Capella Edu to learn more.
- [00:51]
Bill Landis
Welcome back to the Bill and Doug show. Doug Lemurice and Bill Landis. Thanks for joining us here. I have my sword out, Landis and I just.
- [00:58]
Maurice
I know. Hey, I was, I was wondering because you like what people see. They couldn't see the sword in frame, but I can see a wider shot and I saw that you had the sword in your hand. Yeah, I was a little worried.
- [01:09]
Bill Landis
So there's two things going on and it's like we're so busy with all the great information that we're getting out of Ohio State spring practice that we just have not had a chance to step back and just talk really how hard the SEC can cram it as more people. I think Brett McMurphy wrote a story today. There are just. Everybody's on board. There's nobody left.
- [01:28]
Maurice
Their own is turning on them.
- [01:31]
Bill Landis
So this sword is out for the sec, but the SEC is already dead. So I mean, this is just like stabbing a dead body at this point.
- [01:39]
Maurice
Right?
- [01:39]
Bill Landis
I'm, I, I would probably. I don't know if I'd waste my sword on the. The body of the sec the carcass. I probably would just kick it to see if there's like a last gasp in there. The sword is out. Because I'm wondering if Ryan Day is ready to slay the efficiency monster that is Ohio State football to loose the explosion monster that can be Ohio State football. Or maybe he wants the Efficiency monster and the Explosion Monster to live together as twins and he doesn't have to choose one over the other. I think at times we're ready to slay. I at least am. Are you ready to slay the Efficiency Monster for Ohio State? Sometimes.
- [02:24]
Maurice
Yeah. Yes. Yeah.
- [02:26]
Bill Landis
Because do we believe the Efficiency Monster must die for the explosion monster to live.
- [02:32]
Maurice
Well, I don't know. I don't know about that necessarily. I think, I think generally, no, I think the two ideas can coexist and there have been times in the past where Ohio State has been both. But I think perhaps now that Ohio State is so far down the efficiency road that maybe, maybe efficiency must die for explosiveness terrain.
- [02:53]
Bill Landis
So. So. Well, we talked to Ryan Day on Monday. The Ohio State buckets have shifted to like a Monday, Wednesday, Friday practice schedule. Now we had been doing Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday. So this is not around the Shoe. We like to bring you around the Shoe where Bill and I invite two other members of the media, typically from the Ohio State media, to join us to discuss our all topics college football in the Ohio State Buckeyes. We're going to do that Tuesday because we had Ryan Day today. So this is our reaction to practice nine show. Bill Rabin, Bill Rabinowitz and Dylan Davis scheduled to join us on Tuesday. Look for around the Shoe then, but they practice practice nine. We talked to only Ryan Day afterward on Monday and he was asked a question about explosiveness by Jeremy Birmingham. That led to. And we wrote about this. It's for free for everybody over at our substack. If you want to read it, if you want to double check. It's like I just put every bit of the quote in there because he just kept talking and talking and talking and talking about the explosiveness discussion around Ohio State. Which just goes to show he's been thinking about it. Right. Like this is on Are we explosive enough is on Ryan Day's mind. Do you agree?
- [04:02]
Maurice
Absolutely. It was on his mind last year. I think he let us in about a couple of times last year. Yeah.
- [04:06]
Bill Landis
Yes. So he's thinking about it. So anyway, over at the Bill and Doug substack, billandoug OSU substack.com It's part of the notes that we put up. You can go read it for free. It's there for everybody. What Ryan Day talked about it enough on Monday that it led you to research some things. And we are going to dive into this more on our Wednesday show for Substack subscribers because we're gonna, you're gonna do some more stat digging. You and I are going to do a draft of like the most explosive Ohio State offensive players that we have covered. But I think perhaps it's not about slaying efficiency in the name of explosion, but it might be about feeding explosion and not feeding efficiency so much. So maybe both beasts can exist you don't have to kill one to. To loose the other. But maybe they've been feeding efficiency too much. And then they looked up and they're like, oh, the explosion monster is looking a little thin. I can see bones in there. And I do think that might. Do you think over the past couple years with the Ohio State offense that accidentally happened, that it's that it just. That that it wasn't. It wasn't a thought process? You know, what if we have to give up some explosion to be more efficient? We're going to do that. It's that in the pursuit of being efficient, they just neglected explosiveness a little bit. And now Ryan Day is ready to write the ship on that.
- [05:48]
Maurice
I think that's part of it.
- [05:52]
Bill Landis
The.
- [05:52]
Maurice
The decision that we've talked about a lot to like, you know, to play slower, to, I think really just sort of be in tune with the number plays that you were playing per game, which then led to a slower pace of play. Just did kind of start to color everything for the offense. And that started when Chip Kelly was the coordinator two years ago and carried through. Through last year, obviously. I think there are other things. I think there's some personnel stuff in there. Whether it was like a running back last year or some of the things that Ryan Day was also talking about on Monday about perimeter blocking. I think their perimeter blocking is on quite poor the last couple of years. And there was times earlier in Ryan Day's tenure, and especially during every Myers tenure, really, that was really what was kind of feeding the beast is like they were blocking the crap out of everything on the perimeter. So it's not. It's not just one thing, but I guess if you. If you were to like pinpoint whatever, like an origin of this dip in explosiveness, it probably does start with the. The hard lean into efficiency.
- [06:55]
Bill Landis
And he really, you. You wrote very deftly at the substack about yards after the catch. And that discussion that had come up with Cortez Hankton, the new receivers coach, and Ryan Day has been obsessed in every way with the running backs doing more of the ball in their hands and breaking more tackles. Can. Just talking about that. I mean, and they're talking about it to us and to the fans because obviously they are emphasizing it in practice. Just emphasizing it in practice. Is that it? Like, do you think that alone can do something that it, you know, I mean, that it's not that they have to change their recruiting or, you know, have guys put on more muscle and maybe not be as fast because they're trying. Although I guess if you're trying to be explosive, you're trying to be fast, you're trying to be strong to break tackles so that he can get free. I don't know. That did. If they just emphasize it more, will it get better?
- [07:56]
Maurice
I think so. But I also, I, I also think that they've, they have tried to address it a little more with some personnel decisions too. But yeah, I think there's a, there's like an identity conversation about it. Ryan Day said last week, like, we haven't found their identity yet. And I think one, that's hard to have two weeks in the practice, two, even harder when you have 51 new players. So I get, I get why they haven't found that yet. And maybe they won't quite get a handle on it by the time spring practice is over. And I think that's fine. But this to me feels like part of that. Right. If you're just constantly drilling in the case of the receivers, be a playmaker after you catch the ball, run through tackles, think about scoring every time the ball comes in your hands, or if you're a running back, think about making guys miss at the second level more. Be dangerous. Once you get past that, that three, three to four yard kind of barrier on, on a run play, then it, I think the idea is it becomes second nature. Right. And it's, and it's not so much you have to conjure these things via scheme, although you can and I think they will. And it just comes. Becomes more about like, this is how we go about our business day to day. Like we, like, we're explosive because it's in our blood to be explosive. We're not like explosive because we had to draw up six plays to make it so kind of thing. So, yeah, I think talking about it does a lot.
- [09:15]
Bill Landis
I have another thing that I wonder if it helped mistakenly lead to this. I'm gonna save it for Wednesday. I, I don't want us to. We, we, we, we, we, we wanna, we just got back. So we go, we talk to Ryan Day. That was a good news conference. On Monday we come home. What'd you eat for lunch?
- [09:37]
Maurice
Chicken salad sandwich?
- [09:39]
Bill Landis
Yeah, I just had some carrots with peanut butter on them. I just said that's it. That's all I had a little bowl. So I had to peel the carrots. Then I feed the, the peelings to my guinea pig and I get the peanut butter. So like, you gotta make lunch.
- [09:51]
Maurice
Lunch for two.
- [09:53]
Bill Landis
Guinea pig. My, my guinea pig hears the carrots being peeled. He starts chirping because he knows what's up. He knows his go time. So. But we haven't had time to like and completely research this, completely Think about it. And I want us to have the most interesting, sophisticated in depth conversation about explosion on offense for Ohio State that we can. So I want to, I want to give us a little more time to get there. So is that okay? Because your numbers that you brought to the table that you looked up today already kind of blew me away. So we'll save it for Wednesday. Come find us on the sub stack. We're not here to just be like, oh, we're saving the good stuff for the sub stack. But like sometimes we do that. But we also want these shows to be as good as they possibly can be. We just honestly need more time to dig into this a little bit. But we wanted to touch on it because you thought it really was a good question by Burm. You thought it was maybe the most interesting or among the most interesting things that Ryan Day said on Monday.
- [10:49]
Maurice
Yeah, and I thought it was a good way to like, I thought Burn couched it well too because Ryan Day was asked about like pace of play and like really was harbored on efficiency last week to the point where it got like, if you asked again, I'm not sure you were going to get a good answer about it, but there was more to get into there and then like Burm sort of got to it. I think with the, with the explosion conversation like that, the balance between the two is fascinating. So it was good. And there is, there is quite a lot to dig into and more research we'll do before that Wednesday show as well.
- [11:19]
Bill Landis
Okay, let's talk about what I still think maybe this is what I took away the most from Monday. And it is the confirmation from Ryan Day that left tackle Austin Sarah Belt and right tackle Philip Daniels both had minor medical procedures that are going to keep them out for the rest of spring football. He said they'll be back by the summer. It's all good. I think the, the effect on Austin Saravelt and Philip Daniels missing the last couple weeks of practice in the spring, like that side of it is almost zero. It's negligible. Do you agree with that?
- [11:56]
Maurice
Yeah, yeah.
- [11:58]
Bill Landis
It's all about what it means. And what it means is that Ian Moore at left tackle and Carter Lowe at right tackle are going to run with the ones for the rest of spring. We saw that on Saturday when we were there for the open practice. And to me, I, I I can. I sort of thought it before the spring started. And to me, this opens a door and creates an opportunity for this to only be even more true, that Ian Moore is the piece of the puzzle, that if you slide him in the right way, everything else falls into place on the offensive line, maybe on the whole offense, maybe on the whole team. And we're going to get ready for the spring game on April 18th. We'll talk about it on around the Shoe. We'll talk about it and write about it on the sub stack. I'm sure we'll do a bunch of stuff like drafting the most interesting guys to watch in the spring game. Right. The, the, the guys who. Whatever. And I'm think I'm just gonna. Everything we do from a roster standpoint between now and August, most important, most interesting, highest ceiling, lowest floor, greatest gap. Well, like impact, whatever. I think I might pick Ian Moore first every single time. And, and what has happened is it felt like, okay, well, like Ian Moore was the backup left tackle because Austin Sehrevel was the first team left tackle. And now Ian Moore gets to be the first team left tackle for two weeks this spring. And it might change everything.
- [13:30]
Maurice
I think it, I think it probably will change everything. I'm. I feel. Has this not happened in the past where maybe it happened with Austin Cereval last year was like, well, someone's got to play tackle. Just see what this looks like. And then you're like, oh, this looks good. Okay. And I feel like that maybe that happens a lot on the offensive line. And Ryan Day was kind of referencing some, some points in the past where they have had to move guys around and there was a long term benefit from that. So, so that's like a separate conversation. That's like, whatever. If Ian Moore for whatever reason doesn't want a starting job, at least he's got these experience you can tap into should you need him at some point in the season. But I don't think that's really what this is. That, that might even be more of like a Carter Lowe conversation for Ian Moore. It's like Ian Moore has two weeks to like lock down left tackle.
- [14:14]
Bill Landis
Yeah.
- [14:15]
Maurice
And, and I, I don't know, I'm a little conflicted because I thought he was really good last year when he had to play. But then the sort of the way they handled him, especially after Purdue, after the Purdue game was, was not a reflection of like the coaching staff feeling. Feeling the same way. And I know you had some conversations about like, well, it was, it was good. But not great. He's not quite ready, but he's close. But then nothing really came of that. So that, that puts me in a position where I want to, like, temper my expectations a little bit. But maybe that, that's the wrong read because he's older and it's a different time and maybe that's not even applicable now. But I, I really do think he's got a chance to kind of crystallize this whole offensive line thing. The, the other piece of this is, is Josh Padilla's injury because he would very much be in the mix to be starting right now, too, if he was not out for the spring. So maybe he thinks can't quite crystallize coming out of spring. But I think it could be close. And this is like a, it's not a, it's not by design, I don't think, but it could be a bit of a happy accident. I think that Ian Moore gets to play starting left tackle for two and a half weeks.
- [15:27]
Steve Smith
Big thanks to our sponsor, BetterHelp, for
- [15:29]
Bill Landis
partnering with us for this important conversation about mental health.
- [15:33]
Steve Smith
This is Steve Smith here, former NFL wide receiver and host of the 89 show on YouTube. So having a counselor and working with BetterHelp, that gives you an opportunity to really start to unpack. But people don't understand when you unpack things, you also open up a box that you're not always sure what's inside. So I think that's why seeing a professional is extremely important. If you need someone to open up to, visit betterhelp. That's betterhelp.com89 to get started.
- [16:02]
Capella University Announcer
If you, your parent or spouse served in the military. Military, you could join our family. Our members saved an average of $70 a month on auto insurance when they switched. Tap the banner or visit usaa.com join today to check your eligibility restrictions apply.
- [16:20]
Bill Landis
I always want things to be by design. And sometimes it still dumbfounds me in sports how often they aren't by design.
- [16:27]
Maurice
Yeah.
- [16:28]
Bill Landis
And I mean, the number one thing always for me was Hugh Jackson when he was the Browns coach, like, wouldn't start Baker Mayfield as a rookie. And he's like, we're gonna play Tyrod Taylor. And it was like Tyrod Taylor got hurt and they put Baker Mayfield in like, I think it might have been week two. Like, whatever late in the first quarter, week two. It was like, yeah, yeah. Why did something have to happen for you to do the obvious thing? And so I am still, still not a hundred percent sure why they didn't just make Ian Moore, the starting left tackle from the first day of spring because they know Austin Serald can do it. Play Austin Seraval at right guard, and then if Ian Moore can't do it, then you can slide Austin Serval back to left tackle. But that's not at all what they did. And so it was like, okay, but now they are being forced to do that. And it might be. Be the thing that we've already said and I just like, what? We haven't talked to Tyler Bowen, the offensive line coach yet. Right. We're going to talk to him like next week. Is that right? Next week?
- [17:32]
Maurice
I think next week, yeah.
- [17:34]
Bill Landis
What do you think would have held them back from doing that? Did if they wind up. You're already on the record. You think this is what's going to be the case for Ball State September 5th? Ian Moore at left tackle, Austin Serow at right guard. Correct. That's your official Philly Billy says so.
- [17:52]
Maurice
That's right.
- [17:55]
Bill Landis
What. What do you. Why do you think? I guess the two things. Why do you think they didn't do it from the beginning of spring practice? And like, what do you say. What do you think Tyler Bowen would say about why they didn't do it?
- [18:08]
Maurice
I don't know why. Yeah, I think they maybe would have gotten to it. Like, because I asked about. About offensive line on the first day of spring and Ryan Day talks a lot about moving guys around and said that Ian Moore can play guard and tackle. So I sort of took that to believe. Like, they'll keep moving these pieces around a little bit and I, and I just always felt like eventually they would land on the configuration that has Ian Mora tackle and Austin Seravel or Philip Daniels at guard. But it seems like they're pretty dead set on Philip Daniels playing tackle, which is fine. So. But yeah, I. Why they didn't just do that from day one, I don't know, like, because we get to watch practice and we would have made a mountain out of it maybe if they did. Like, I think sometimes they make decisions based on. Based on that kind of stuff.
- [18:53]
Emo
Maybe
- [18:56]
Maurice
something about Ian or Austin Saraville being a guy who sort of earned his keep and he gets to start out where he played well last year and we'll worry about moving guys around as we get further into it. I'm not entirely sure. There's not a. There's not a super obvious reason to me why they wouldn't have just done it from the jump.
- [19:13]
Bill Landis
They are starting to build up a history of the guy who is the starting Left tackle on the first day of spring practice is not going to be the starting left tackle by the time the season starts. Right?
- [19:23]
Maurice
Right.
- [19:24]
Bill Landis
So like 20, 23. Right. It was Josh Fryer and then they were like, this is not really it. And they went and got Josh Simmons in the spring portal. The spring portal no longer exists. Last year we thought it was going to be Ethan Onianwa coming in from Rice. It was like, nope, that's not it. I guess we're gonna see if Austin Sarabell can play tackle. It's like, yep, Austin Cerebell can't play tackle. Like this is, this is. And again, like one of my, I think haven't done this for two decades. One of the most interesting things about Ohio State football is how often they back into their quarterback solutions that you make such a big deal about quarterback recruiting and identifying and they're going all over the country to pick out the guy they want and then it's like, oh yeah, actually wound up being this guy. And it's just like the, the numerous examples of what they thought and then what actually happened. That includes Julian saying, right? They didn't get Julian saying they lost that recruiting battle. It's like, oh no. Yeah, but he's a two year starter. I. And they're getting there at left tackle, man. And, and the thing that I think like that I've had to come to realize is I don't know that it's a criticism. I don't know that it's a thing to be on alert for. It maybe is just the way sports works more often than we think that even at the highest possible level, where you are picking instead of recruiting, where you have your choice of the very best players in the country, it's like, yeah, well, it didn't work out as we thought, but thank goodness it turned out okay. And so it's like, well, you know that Ian Moore, you know, took the Sarah about injury and now Ian Moore is like a first team all Big Ten left tackle. And that's just how the world, that's the way the world works, man.
- [21:00]
Maurice
Yeah, that's why they don't spend any money on five star high school offensive tackles because they know that eventually they'll find the guy in the building who should be playing left tackle.
- [21:07]
Bill Landis
Yeah, there's just, yeah, there's just a guy. I don't. So I, I'm like, let's go kind of right, that, that now that we're at this point, I'm not sure I'm taking my binoculars off Ian Moore when he's on the field in the spring game, I think he's getting 247 offensive. Wait, but wait, is that, is that okay with you?
- [21:33]
Maurice
I like where this is going. We were at practice on Saturday and you were watching offensive line while I watched seven on Sevens. And then we get the Ryan Day on Monday and you're asking about offensive line and now you just want to watch the O line of the spring game. It's great. I love it.
- [21:45]
Bill Landis
Yeah.
- [21:46]
Maurice
Soon enough this will be an offensive line only podcast.
- [21:53]
Bill Landis
So I thought so there was like some good. I think there's some good offensive line conversation you're planning to write about. The continuity of the offensive line is something you've been researching. You asked Ryan Day about it on Monday as well. But like, that's the interesting part of this, that it snaps. It snaps together the continuity. That is if more is the they're gonn have one new guy that it's going to be Hinsman, Montgomery Daniels and Saravel for the five starters back in some arrangement. And then it's just have that. But the fifth guy kind of snaps it into place. But what if it does snap into place? Like you're. What's the, what's the ceiling for this O line if it comes together the right way?
- [22:34]
Maurice
Pretty high. I think like, you know, you would be asking a guy who's not played a ton to be your starting left tackle and go do it on the road against Texas in week two. So I don't want to just assume that Ian Moore is gonna, you know, haven't have an A for that for that game. So there might be a little bit of early growing pains. But I, I do think if you just look at the pieces that are available to them, what you're really talking about is one of Ian Moore, Josh Padilla or Gabe Van Sickle slotting into the, the fifth spot since the other four are taken up by the four returning starters, which sort of like configuration of those three guys in the various positions they can play. Do you like the most? I think most people will probably say putting in more tackle and maybe they would say put them at right instead of left. But I think if you're putting any more at left tackle, he's supposed to be a tackle. You have a Philip Daniels at right tackle, he's probably supposed to be a tackle. And then you have Luke Montgomery, a guard who's supposed to be a guard, and you have Carson Hensman in center, who's supposed to be a center. And then you have Austin Seravel, a guard who's like finally going to play guard. The position he's going to play in the NFL, it all, it comes together quite nicely. I think that that's, that that's a puzzle that I would certainly want to lean on if I were.
- [23:49]
Bill Landis
It's, it's not, it's not a great comparison. But I keep thinking about Taylor Decker taking over at left tackle in year three. Now, Taylor Decker in year two was the starting right tackle in 2013, and then when he moved to left tackle in 2014, he was like the only starter back because Corey Lindsley and Jack Muhort and Andre and all these other veteran guys were gone. So like all those circumstances are very different. Ian Moore is part of the veteran offensive line. He did not start in year two, but for a, A highly, you know, not a five star, but a highly rated guy that you kind of always thought was gonna be a left tackle to sort of snap into place at. Jamarco Jones did that. Jamarco Jones sort of like bited his tam. He's a big time get. These are all Midwestern guys. Taylor Decker, Ian Moore, Jamarco Jones. It's the kind of guy that you can find in this part of the country and develop. Jamarco Jones was a big time recruit and then he snapped into place as a starting left tackle in years three and four. Right. And so like, I just, it just like. And I keep, I keep using that word because it's like, it's not the Legos, but like the stuff that's like the Legos. Maybe it's magnetiles. Right?
- [25:00]
Maurice
We could magnetize.
- [25:02]
Bill Landis
Yeah, Magnetiles, right.
- [25:04]
Maurice
Tetris. A little bit of Tetris. Although when they, when they all fit together, they disappear. So I mean, that's bad.
- [25:09]
Bill Landis
That's true. It just like I can, I can sort. It just makes so much sense for me. For. It's like, what are we going to do? What are we going to do is. I don't know what you're going to do. But the third year guy who has been anticipated to be a left tackle from the minute you started recruiting him, he snaps into place in his third year on campus as a starting left tackle and then do whatever else. And so like that's, I'm just, I'm overly excited about this because it, it's maybe that being forced upon them, but I think it's going to snap into place and that's it. And then Ian Moore is going to start the next two years at left tackle. And we're good to go. Yep.
- [25:48]
Maurice
I kind of feel the same way. And it's, it's, it's sort of like bolstered by the fact that he played well last year. Like, when they put him in there, he started against Purdue, and I know Purdue is not great, but he played well in that game. And then when no one could block Miami, they put any more in there and he could block Miami a little bit.
- [26:03]
Bill Landis
It's a, yeah, it's like, why did Ohio State's offense function in the second half against Miami and it didn't the first half? It's like, well, maybe the number one reason is because Ian Moore came in.
- [26:13]
Maurice
Yeah. I mean, Austin Serval got hurt. Obviously. That's why Ian Moore had to come in.
- [26:17]
Bill Landis
Couldn't move. It's not Austin's fault, but.
- [26:19]
Maurice
Right, right. And that wasn't really, that wasn't the most obvious stress point prior to Austin Serval getting hurt, but wasn't like Ian Moore went in there and was like, well, he can't block either Akeem Mezador or Ruben Bane, so I guess we'll just throw screens all game. So I, I just, I think he's ready. I, I, like I said, I thought he was kind of ready last year. I think he's definitely ready going into year three.
- [26:50]
Doug Lay
And Doug, there's nowhere I wouldn't go to help someone customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual. Even if it means sitting front row at a comedy show.
- [26:59]
Emo
Hey, everyone, check out this guy and his bird. What is this, your first date?
- [27:03]
Bill Landis
Oh, no.
- [27:04]
Doug Lay
We help people customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual together. We're married. Me to a human, him to a bird.
- [27:10]
Emo
Yeah, the bird looks out of your league anyways.
- [27:12]
Doug Lay
Only pay for what you need@libertymutual.com Liberty.
- [27:15]
Emo
Liberty. Liberty. Liberty.
- [27:18]
USAA Announcer
If you work in university maintenance, Grainger considers you an MVP because your playbook ensures your arena is always ready for tip off. And Grainger is your trusted partner, offering the products you need all in one place, from H VAC and plumbing supplies to lighting and more. And all delivered with plenty of time left on the clock. So your team always gets the win. Call 1-800-GRAINGER visit grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.
- [27:50]
Bill Landis
I want to talk about special teams a little bit. What. What else did you want to talk about from what Ryan Day had to say? He did say some nice stuff about Earl Little, which is just interest to hear the continued progression of like super veteran Safety hanging out in the back end and kind of looking like a veteran.
- [28:07]
Maurice
Well, I actually thought so. That was a question that was asked by Steve Hellwag and I believe about, like what? Like, who are a couple of guys that have stood out to you on both sides of the ball? And he was talking about Earl Little on defense, on offense. He talked about the tight ends
- [28:20]
Bill Landis
that did not seem to match up with
- [28:24]
Maurice
anything we've heard or seen.
- [28:30]
Bill Landis
Yeah, he basically was like, Hunter Welsing and Mason Williams. You should see these guys catch the ball. It was like, what? But okay, it's a head coach.
- [28:40]
Maurice
Good. Like, yeah, like. Like, productive on the catch.
- [28:43]
Bill Landis
More.
- [28:43]
Maurice
More so than we've maybe been. They just had a tight end catch, like, 40 passes, Claire. And he's talking about, like, cool. I haven't seen tight ends catch the ball like this in a long time. It's like, okay. I don't know what to do with that. Maybe you're just being nice to a position group that hasn't been talked about a lot. But, like, for his mind, obviously he's. He said what he's had to say, I think, about a running back position. So, like, he wasn't gonna say, like, running back's been great, but he could have said O line running back or quarterback. And he said tight end. So I thought. That was not on my bingo card, that's for sure. No, no.
- [29:16]
Bill Landis
It would be funny. I think we could do it. Maybe we'll do it for our sub stackers, make an actual bingo card for Ryan Day Tuesdays in the fall. Right. And then so it's all the same, like. But if we come up with different ones and then we distribute the bingo cards differently. Right. And then this is yours because it's. Yeah, I think. I think we actually.
- [29:43]
Maurice
We can do Ryan Day press conference bingo for sure.
- [29:46]
Bill Landis
We could definitely do that. Can you write that on the sheet?
- [29:48]
Maurice
Yeah.
- [29:49]
Bill Landis
Ryan Day press conference bingo. Because it would be a way to like, just. Ha, ha, ha. The coach has some things that he says, you know, that are kind of like frequent refrains from him. But also then we can make fun of us as the media and the ridiculous things that we ask about. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He talked about special teams. We're going to talk to Robbie Disher, who was hired from Illinois to be the special teams coach on Wednesday. And so it was like, not a surprise. It was a good idea. Stephen Means asked, sort of like a, hey, let's get the head coach on special teams before we talk to Robbie Disher on Wednesday. And so there's two things. One is, well, here's. He said the punter needs better hang time. He needs to kick it farther. And I just think that that, that's reassuring to the fans, right?
- [30:40]
Maurice
Yes. But he's never really said that about Joe McGuire before. Whenever he's been asked about Joe McGuire, he always talks about the thing that Joe McGuire does well, which is get the ball off his foot quickly. If you want to know anything about. Yeah, if you want to know about the importance of that, go watch Miami's punter eat a sandwich before he punted the ball against Indiana national title game. So, like, that matters. But in my mind, I was always saying, like, well, yeah, but he can't kick the ball far. And like, both. Both things have to matter, right? So I don't. I mean, I guess like this Joe McGuire doing some extra leg presses and the winter workouts. I don't know, I'd like to hear some more about that. Or maybe there's something, some. Some special teams voodoo to Rob Disher has that can make his punter get a little more hang time and a little more distance on it. Because they, like, they are. They're short there. They have been short there the last couple years. They've not really been great at flipping the field. So for Ryan Day, I think to like, finally acknowledge that was good, but also, like, I don't, I don't. It's not like they went out in the portal and tried to address it either. So it's like, we think he needs to do these things better, but then, like, he has to do these things better because there's no other option.
- [31:47]
Bill Landis
Right? So Joe McGuire the last two years averaged 42.2 yards per punt. And it's hard to say, for instance, Joe McGuire statistically never qualifies for anything because Ohio State doesn't punt enough. So if you look like. And it's. I don't know if the NCAA or needs to change the requirements. If you look, last year I tried to sort on cfbstats.com like, all Big Ten punters who qualify, there's only like five. Like, nobody, nobody qualifies for what you're supposed to do anymore. So it's like, lower the threshold because teams aren't punting enough. And part of it, actually, I. It's just everyone's going for it on fourth down everymore, right? Like all those times when punters were punting from the 48 yard line. It's like, I'm fourth and three now. A bunch of Coaches are going for it. So the number of punts is down, so they need to change the threshold. But even by the guys who qualified, I think there were 45 punchers last year in college football who averaged at least 43 yards per punt. And like the good ones average like 46, 47, 48. And that doesn't mean you kick it 48 yards every time. It means you're dropping some 60 yarders in there when it really matters. And that's the one thing that Ohio State has not had lately. Like you said, flip the field. They'll get into a, a battle of a three and out versus a three and out and lose 15 yards of field position. Yeah, right, because our guy punted at 38 and their guy punted at 59. And it's like, okay, it was two, three and a half. We lost 21 yards on that exchange. And like that, that's not an unheard of thing with Ohio State. Like, that's the, that's. That needs to stop.
- [33:23]
Maurice
Yeah, I wonder too if Ohio State sometimes, not only do they not punt a lot, but I like, they're not often punting from deep in their own territory because they're usually good for like at least a first down. Yeah, they get the ball. So I understand that maybe that impacts the averages some, but there have been plenty of times over the last couple years where they've have been in a position to punt it from whatever their own 22 yard line and try to flip the field and they just, they can't do it because they don't, they don't have a punter who's capable of getting it that far.
- [33:52]
Bill Landis
And then the other thing is he, he did talk about Connor Hawkins talked about Dalton Riggs, the long snapper from ucf, and he talked about Connor Hawkins, the transfer kicker from Baylor. And he, he said the word clutch. He said he's clutch. And like that's the only word that matters. And it's just one of those of I am just. It's like you and I did. Not a lot of people made a big deal about Connor Hawkins making the A kick in practice in front of people. Right. I don't give two squats about that. I, I just don't want to talk about, I only want to talk about kick, kicking field goals for Ohio State in like the eight game, whatever. They're going to play a bunch of big games this year, five times a year.
- [34:28]
Maurice
It matters. Yeah, that's.
- [34:30]
Bill Landis
And otherwise, like it's not even worth having a conversation. But I Thought Ryan Day, him saying, Connor Hawkins has been clutch and he's been in clutch situations, to me is saying that same thing, which is, you know, he was saying, like, we're trying to replicate situations of practice. That's what everybody does. But, like, practice doesn't matter. Ball State doesn't matter. Frankly, Illinois doesn't matter. It's like, let's see what happens against Texas and Oregon and Indiana and Michigan and the Big Ten championship game and the playoff. And the rest of the time, I don't want to hear anyone talking about the kicker. So I think he's. And that's the same with. I think that's us. That's. We are reflecting what we hear from fans, and I think that's Ryan Day, too. I don't care if you're five for five against Ball State, because it doesn't matter. So the only thing you can go on is they went and got a guy who, in a power conference has made important kicks in important games before, and that was the only thing that mattered. And that's the only thing that's going to matter now. But I like the word clutch.
- [35:38]
Maurice
I do like the word. Yeah. Like, Connor Hawkins last year was 43rd in the country and field goal conversion percentage at 81.8%, which is great, but there were guys who were in the 90s, but he made two game winners. And that's. That's all I care. Be 80 all you want. Just make sure you're 100 when the difference between you making or missing is winning and losing the game. And I think that's why they brought him in here, because he has shown an ability to make those kicks when asked.
- [36:09]
Bill Landis
Yeah, I think that's right. North Carolina hired Mike Malone. Good.
- [36:20]
Maurice
They didn't want to wait up Billy Donovan, I guess.
- [36:23]
Bill Landis
Good. So I. I was gonna play this game of. How far down the list would you have to go before Jake Diebler would have been a candidate? So it's like Jake Diebler's not a candidate for the North Carolina job. Right. But let's say that, like T.J. otzelberger as the Iowa State coach, had taken the North Carolina job. Would Jake Diebler had been a candidate for the Iowa State job? The answer is no. Right. But let's say the Indiana State coach had taken the Iowa State job. Would Jake Diebler have been a candidate for the Indiana State job? And it's like, like, how many layers removed from being a candidate for the North Carolina job is Ohio State's current head coach? Would he be a candidate to replace the guy who replaced the guy who replaced the guy who went to North Carolina. And the answer is like, maybe, but maybe not. So, anyway, we don't have to play that game anymore. I was just being mean. Sorry.
- [37:25]
Maurice
Mike Malone was unemployed, so there's no. There are no dominoes.
- [37:28]
Bill Landis
Yeah, I still.
- [37:29]
Maurice
He was an assistant.
- [37:30]
Bill Landis
Maybe, but I. I don't. I. I understand the calendars in college sports are screwed up, but I don't understand why any major program would allow the calendar to rush a higher. I just. I'd rather suck for a year. It's like, oh, it's going to screw up the transfer portal. Fine, then just do a bad job in the transfer portal in year one of that coach as he establishes his culture and then hope that he's good for the next 20 years to be like, well, we had to get in ahead of the transfer portal. It's like, I just. I don't know why major programs aren't willing to, like, take a loss on timing to get the absolute right guy and then explain that to their fans. And it's like, okay, but, like, I'm sorry, it. You know, we. We had trouble building the roster, but we got dusty. Maybe, but we had to wait until he won the national championship and got done with the parade. I don't know. It just is odd to me when it feels like teams. But it happens in both sports when they wind up with the guy that is not the guy they want because the guy they want is still coaching in the playoff. And then I'm just like, just wait. Then why don't you wait?
- [38:40]
Maurice
It's weird, especially for basketball, too, because the basketball portal doesn't open until Tuesday. They actually do it right. You can't transfer until the season's over, unlike. Unlike football. And the portals open until, I think, like, April 21st. So would have been plenty of time for any current sitting college coach to take your job and build his roster. And the Chicago Bulls aren't making the playoffs and their season's over on April 12th. Would have been plenty of time to hire Billy Donovan and let him build his roster. Maybe not under ideal circumstances, but, like, he had at least have a roster. It's not like you have to hire a NBA coach after the portal closes and there's nobody available. So, yeah, it seems like maybe they got rushed into making a hire, perhaps that they did not want to make. So, I don't know. Good luck.
- [39:31]
Doug Lay
And, Doug, there's nowhere I wouldn't go to help someone customize and save on car Insurance with Liberty Mutual, even if it means sitting front row at a comedy show.
- [39:41]
Emo
Hey, everyone, check out this guy and his. What is this, your first date?
- [39:45]
Bill Landis
Oh, no.
- [39:45]
Doug Lay
We help people customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual together. We're married. Me to a human, him to a bird.
- [39:51]
Emo
Yeah, the bird looks out of your league.
- [39:53]
Doug Lay
Anyways, only pay for what you need@libertymutual.com Liberty.
- [39:57]
Emo
Liberty. Liberty. Liberty.
- [40:00]
Walmart Express Announcer
Walmart Express delivery can get what you need delivered in as fast as an hour. Whether it's baby formula, when you're down to the last scoop, pet food before the bowl runs, empty batteries for a dead remote or a last minute gift, it is handled. Try Walmart express delivery today and get free delivery with promo code Express promotion valid for first Express Delivery Order $50 minimum, subject to availability restrictions apply.
- [40:28]
Bill Landis
I don't think there's. There's no cost too high to pay for getting it right.
- [40:33]
Maurice
I agree.
- [40:34]
Bill Landis
You know, so I just, I don't, I don't. I, I'm confused by the discussion around it sometimes. All right, what? We can end it there. We had a lovely conversation with Ryan Day.
- [40:44]
Maurice
Yeah, I'm trying to think if there's
- [40:45]
Bill Landis
anything we like the big Jeremiah Smith overturn of the fourth down catch.
- [40:50]
Maurice
Oh, yeah. Ryan Day doesn't have to run Gassers.
- [40:55]
Bill Landis
But here's the thing, here's the thing. So, so what do you. I actually thought there was a tiny little nugget of something in that exchange.
- [41:04]
Maurice
Yeah. Because he's not the head coach of the offense. God.
- [41:09]
Bill Landis
So the. So the conversation is they did a do or die 4th down play when everybody was at the open practice on Saturday. They threw a touchdown pass to Jeremiah Smith. As a result, the defense had to run Gassers. But we saw it in the moment and everybody saw it on the replay that Jeremiah Smith actually stepped out of the back of the end zone before he caught it, then came back in. Was the first person to touch it. In a real game, it would have been disallowed as a touchdown. So Adam King, the great Adam King asked about it on Monday and Ryan Day, like gave this funny answer of like, trying to be really serious about, like. Yeah, well, we went to the review. We weren't even sure he was in charge of the review, but they overturned it. So the offense had to run because it wasn't a touchdown. And then like, where everybody was like, joking around and Steven means, like, joking around. It's like good stuff to do. It's like, hey, so did you have to run? Because the offense had to run. And he was like, no, I didn't run. And there, there is actually like, there. It's, you know, like, yeah, if we were writing a 10,000 word story about the transformation of Ryan Day from offensive play caller to full head coach, like you could write an 800 word lead about that. And it's like, no, he didn't say it, but it's like, no, I didn't run because I'm not offense and I'm not defense. I'm the head effing coach.
- [42:27]
Maurice
Right, Right. Yeah.
- [42:29]
Bill Landis
And there might have been a time at earlier times in his career, maybe not that long ago where he would have run or his instinct would have been to run or whatever, because even while he was the head coach, he was more of an offensive guy. And those days are gone.
- [42:44]
Maurice
That's why he hired Chip Kelly, because he had to run a gasser in 2023 and thought, this is ridiculous. I'm the head coach of Ohio State. I need to bring somebody in to
- [42:51]
Bill Landis
run these for real. I mean, that would be. Of all the things. I'm not sure Arthur Smith or Chip Kelly are the guys you want to hire to run gassers. Heartline probably was good at running gassers. Right. So he might need to keep that in mind.
- [43:02]
Maurice
But Art Smith is a former offensive lineman. He's an athlete, all right? He can run. Okay, Chip, maybe not chips. Chip's 60.
- [43:11]
Bill Landis
Chip is 60. That's true. Chip's not running at Northwestern, I'll tell you that. So anyway, it was. It was like a funny little thing, but there's always like. There's like, there's truth in the. There's truth in the humor. All right, we'll get out of here. Thanks to you guys for being here as always. We'll see you over on the substack. Billandgo issue.subsack.com we got a bunch of stories coming up this week that we think you'll find interesting. We'll have the big Wednesday show. We did our big react. You saw a clip of it on this feed on YouTube. But we did our big react to the Saturday practice over on the sub stack live with our folks over there. So, like, if you were like, hey, I haven't really heard these guys really dig into what they saw at practice. We did 100 minutes on it, but we did it on substack. So again, you know, all of this is important to us, but there's always more over there. Billadougoshu.substack.com we'll talk to you soon. Around the Shoe on Tuesday. For now, he's Bill Landis. I'm Doug Lay. Maurice. And that was the Bill and Doug Show.