The Ohio State Buckeyes renew their rivalry with the Penn State Nittany Lions this Saturday at noon on Fox 28. After a dominant 34-0 win over Wisconsin, the Buckeyes return from a bye week ready to keep momentum rolling. Penn State, once ranked No. 2, enters the game on a four-game losing streak following the firing of head coach James Franklin. Can Ohio State capitalize, or will Penn State bounce back? Watch the Big Ten battle unfold in Columbus!
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members of um the Ohio State football family this week. Nick Mangold and Bob Mags both um you know had major impacts on this program and um you know we’re praying for their have peace during this time um you know very very sad and I think the plan is to have a moment of silence at the you know those families know that we’re all Ryan, I imagine you probably familiar with me from him growing up around here. How much did you improve and what is your impression from him as a quarterback? Yeah, I think he’s a very talented young man. He’s um know anybody you speak to up in the Tangi High School or in the area growing up. He’s got a great family. He’s a great leader and um you know very competitive player that um you know has a bright future in the game and um you know this is just his his second start but you can see the talent on the field. You can see um you know that he’s got leadership skills and he obviously had a great career here while he was in high school and um you know think very very highly of him. Ryan, since uh February last year to February of this past year, you lost four assistant coaches in four different ways, four different timelines, four different circumstances. Is there any processes or or some anything that you’ve changed internally to like make sure those conversations are open? How do you prepare for that knowing that you’re the program that a lot of people are trying to do it? Yeah. um just keep winning and continuing to have opportunities is the goal. Um and you know that’s part of um the understanding of being unselfish whether it’s players or coaches and we know that um when we’re unselfish um and we win as a team um there’s great opportunity for everybody in their careers and and that’s that’s a good thing. Um, you know, we want to make it great for guys to stay in the program, players and coaches, and retain as many people as we can, knowing that um 100% is unrealistic. But that’s um that’s why we want continuity. That’s why we want stability. I think that’s a big a big focus for us right now to make sure that we have that because in a day and age when um you’re just seeing a lot of changes in the game right now. I think you’ve heard a lot of coaches get up and say, you know, there’s been a lot of changes. The college the the college landscape has changed with NIL with transfer portal. Well, I think you’re seeing that on the field now. you’re seeing teams that maybe haven’t been, you know, historically in the top 10 or top 15 that that now are in the top 10, top 15. And so, um, all of the changes that have happened in terms of roster building, roster management, and things like that, um, are now happening on the field and it’s just, you know, a reflection of that. And so, you know, we want to make sure that we’re retaining all of our players and all of our coaches so that it is a um it’s it’s an edge for us against our competitors. Talk, excuse me, we’ve heard a lot of the players talk about Matt Patricia and kind of their relationship that they had at a lot of guys like Jaylen Mlan, Pton Pierce. Just talk about how immediately they were able since day one he came in to get that relationship with him. What have you thought about the way that he stepped in and kind of bonded with some of the guys and you know he talked on the radio so they’re younger than what he’s used to coaching. Why do you think he’s been able to gel with them so well? I mean everybody has their own style and I think when he got in here he had a certain list of things that he wanted to get done early on and I think he’s done that. He’s let his personality go which has been great and um you know each each year you have a different set of dynamics at play coaches and players and um you know story. So, um, you know, I think he he understands more than anybody that, um, you know, the season’s just begun now. You know, we just we’re just getting started here. You know, we’ve had the first half of the year and that’s great, but like, you know, this is where it really matters. And, um, you his history of coaching in the NFL, you know, helps him gives, you know, give some perspective to everybody of just how long of a run this is. You know, those of us who went through it last year, that’s one thing, but he’s done it for multiple years and you got to keep building each week. and I know that he understands that and he’s continuing to talk to the staff and the players about that as well. Ryan, when you’ve gone to using multiple fronts on on defense and and having those different looks, how much of that was being able to have somebody use somebody like Reese and his skill set or was it I guess what what is how does that dubtail with somebody like his skill set in terms of like what we’re doing? Yeah, when because you were talking about you wanted to go use multiple fronts this year and have more versatility up front and in the back of your mind was the fact that you had somebody like Arll on the roster who fit into that idea. Yeah, I think you always want to put the best players you can on the field to do their job the best they can. So, what does that mean? Well, I think sometimes you recruit to certain schemes, but then you also want to make sure you’re doing things that put guys in in situations that that um that can be successful. What I mean by that is if somebody is a really really good football player but maybe a non-fit schematically, do you add them to the team? And I think you always want to acquire talent the best you can. It’s a coach’s job to put them in a position to be successful. So last year we had, you know, Jack, JT, Tai, and Tyreek, and it was four down and that that’s kind of what it looked like most of the the plays. And now you’re seeing um you know different guys with different skill sets who can do versatile things and Arvel is one of those guys and and our coaches are making sure that we’re putting those guys in those positions. So in was important because you know he had a history of doing that. Coach when you look at Penn State obviously not going the way they had hoped but at the start of the year ranked number two in the country they’ve got talented guys on that team. How do you convey that to your kids that you know and every week we see chaos? Yeah. Well, it’s already been conveyed to them and it’ll continue to be conveyed. We have a 2:30 meeting here. As you know, Tuesdays are a big day. We’ll go through um you know what we think in terms of all three phases. But, um we know that this is um you know, one of the top five 10 teams in the country. I don’t think there’s many teams in the country that have more talent than Penn State has. Um and I think people recognize that early in the season. ensure um it hasn’t gone the way they’ve wanted it to, but that doesn’t change that they still have really good players. Um and when you looked at this game, you know, a few months ago, I mean, it it was a absolute matchup game. That has not changed. It’s still the same players other than the quarter. They understand that and they know that it’s about us. It’s not about our opponent. players and they have a lot of NFL players and and we know they have really good coaches. So, um all of that’s going to lead into a you know a huge matchup game for us in Saturday when you face a team that’s also coming off of a by-week a team that really needs to find a way to win a game. Is there an element of expecting the unexpected way? Yeah, for sure. I mean, they really have a nothing to lose mentality. So, you know, we have to be on high alert at all times for things. Um, you know, they have two weeks to put together different things on offense, defense, and special teams that, uh, they haven’t put on film. Um, we know that. Um, and certainly when you have a coaching change like they did, you know, we expect that. So, um, like, you know, that mentality going into the game and, um, so all of those things matter. At the end of the day, you still got to go play the play. understand what our opponent um is and and you know the fact that they’ve had two weeks to prepare and change up the looks during the off your evaluations of guard spot. Well, I think that Josh Padilla has continued to practice well when he’s got into games. He’s played well. um he’s not perfect and so, you know, we feel like he has an opportunity to, you know, mix in there as the sixth uh offensive lineman in the game like he’s been the last few games. Um we’ll continue to evaluate it this week and figure out what gives us the best chance to win, but um he certainly has played into one of our top six players. Summer where Larry mentioned that the challenge of replacing four NFL starters kind of like re-energized him coming into the season. I’m curious in what ways you’ve seen that from him and if you think that’s trickled down to his room and kind of helped to step up the way the way I think for him um the style of defense is just a little bit different. So I think it’s given him a little bit of a challenge to um you know learn something new. You know you’re seeing it’s not just all four down front although you still see a lot of four down front. So there’s still so many things that he teaches that’s the same way that it’s been his whole career. but but he’s also getting challenged in other areas and I think for him um it’s exciting because it is something a little new and where he’s at in his career there’s so many things that he can bring to the table but also you know pick up in terms of new ideas and thoughts and um I think to your point it has re-energized them you have not seemed overly concerned or panicked about the run game it’s been a big topic of conversation outside this building and you mentioned something a couple weeks ago about maybe teaming up explosives that I thought was interesting, but also like the base plays could hit. What What would be your level of concern or or optimism about where the run game’s going right now? Well, like you know, I I say it all the time. It every play we want to score a touchdown on. So, uh every play should be an explosive in my mind. And when we’re out out at the practice field and on the scout team and it doesn’t go for an explosive, it’s like why? Something went broke down. So, our execution level has got to increase just across the board. Um, and so, yeah, we’re, you know, there’s always the the balance of, you know, you try to create explosives and then you put yourself at risk of turnovers and controlling the ball, making sure, you know, you’re you’re playing to your defense. Um, all those things come into play. We know that, you know, we’re going to have to be explosive on offense and figure out ways to do that. And so, um, I think, you know, during the bye-week, we’ve been able to look at the things that we’ve done well and the areas we got to get better at. Um, everybody’s involved with the run game. It’s not an easy thing. And um, you know, we I’ve I think, you know, it’s been good. Has it been great? No, it hasn’t been great. We can get better. Um, you know, I think that’s everybody involved, including, you know, the quarterback, the receivers, the tight ends, the running backs, and obviously obviously the offensive line. So, um, all areas that we want to get better at, um, in terms of being explosive, being efficient. Um, but you know, I say to the running backs a lot, like the first four yards are for the team and then the rest of it, you know, you got to go trust your god-given ability. And, um, so, you know, some of the things in the in the in the last game, um, you know, they put an extra guy in the box and in the RPO, uh, led us to throw the ball. Um, those don’t show up in the running statistics, but um, when you have a quarterback who has the ability to run, you saw him poll, we read an end, we’ll do some of that, some more of that with Julian. Um but you know he also can read some off off the line defenders and so um like when you look they’re leaving one-on-one on the outside and put put an extra guy in the box and we’re hitting you know an eight yard hitch to Jeremiah. Um that’s really the run game, you know, because it compliments. So to answer your question, yeah, it’s been good. It hasn’t been great. We need to get better at it. We want to create more explosives. uh by weekend. I saw on Facebook that you went through a corn maze of your image. One, two part. Can you confirm that’s not one of these AI Ryan day Facebook pics? And two, where does uh walking through a corn maze of your own image until I finally made it? Well, I’ve read a lot of things on on uh on the internet AI that are not true. So, I would say that um it’s hitting about 20%, but that actually is true. Um we we actually had been that’s been something we’ve been doing as a family yearly and the folks out there um at the corn maze had said you know you know every year they do a corn maze and they use somebody different. It was Jack Nicholas one year um they’ve they’ve done Ohio State theme for however many years and they said you know you win a national championship then you know we’ll do one of you and so they they held up their end of the bargain. So we went out there for a little while. I tried to be normal as a family. Um, it wasn’t normal because the kids are throwing corn at each other when we were in the maze and everything else, but uh, no, but it was great. It just it’s great to to do things like that when we’re in the Woody during the season, you know, just to get a wave in for a couple hours because, you know, we call it the submarine right here. Like, it’s just this is where we are. We don’t go out in public. We don’t do much. But to hear the people there talk about how you know we we’re glad that Ohio State’s on a by-week because we got a lot more people here than when they’re when they’re playing um you know on Saturdays you know there’s nobody here and it just it’s a great opportunity to get an idea of kind of you know how important football is in the in the community but um but yeah it was good to get a little bit of perspective walking away for at least for a couple hours anyways. I didn’t do the haunt though. I didn’t do the haunt although I did um a couple years ago and we’re going through the hunt and you know it’s it’s it’s quite an experience and at one point you know somebody with a mask jumps up right they’re right right here and they’re like coach day I was like man I got to get the heck out of here so I said I’m going to pass this year let the kids do it and I waited so oh sorry just wanted to ask if you had if you had the opportunity to meet McMold I know you talked about it earlier in the press conference, but if not, maybe stories you’ve heard about just more thoughts. Yeah, I have a unbelievable amount of respect for him um as a man um and as a football player and we talk about leaving legacies behind. When you hear that name in this building right here, um you know, people uh stand up straight. This is a guy who um had a tremendous amount of character and you know left a lot of that behind. Um he didn’t just go through this place. He left um a work ethic. He left a leadership. He left a discipline and certainly a body of work on the field. And I know um you know everybody in Buckeye Nation is mourning his loss and and then obviously what he did in the NFL and just all the people that were able to have him as a teammate speak so highly of him and so he’s going to be dearly missed. Ryan seemed like against Wisconsin that uh Isaiah West gave you some of the better like yards after contact make you miss kind of stuff that you you’ve gotten so far this year. How much can a back work on that kind of stuff during the season and how much of it is just sort of you got it or you don’t? I think it’s a good question. It’s it’s it’s our job as coaches to figure that out right there. And so we we try to create drills. Um we watch it on film. Um you know, we we look to work it in the body of a practice of a thud of an inside drill. You know, when do you make somebody miss? When do you drop your shoulder, run them over? What are the tools that the coaches are giving you in order to do a good job of yards after contact? And that’s sort of how your judge is a running back. Not 100% but that’s a big part of it and um I think we’re getting better in that area. We’re drilling it more. Um and we want to see that more on the film. Two part thing here. Start with when did you realize Nolles was probably not coming back here and then kind of building off of that. This is your fourth defensive coordinator hire. You’ve always mentioned this idea of making sure you have the right guys in the right seats. There’s the best guys at this Ohio State going to get that. But that understanding of what your defense needs for that period of time where there’s a lack of leadership. What you that team needs versus what when you hire a versus hiring Kerry Collins, Jim Nolles and now Matt Patricia that that thought process that philosophy of going about it that way. You learn every year and every year what have you learned the most? One one of the top three things is is when when you make I would you know you’d make decisions based on a recruit or two or maybe you know the the the public sentiment where you got to do what’s best for your team you know and I think um you know continuity is important but we also got to do what’s best and but know there also is another part of it too you know and you know the guys have to feel like you’re doing everything you possibly can to make sure you know you’re bringing in the best guy to help them. And you know whether it is like you know you talk about fans, you talk about the boosters, you talk about people in the building, you talk about parents of recruits, you talk about the players, their parents like everybody has opinions on all those things and nowadays people can decide to come and go um you know through the transfer portal. So, we have to take all those things into consideration when we’re making a hire. But at the end of the day, we have to make the best hire for Ohio State, period. And um and I watched, you know, Coach Sabin was was really good at it in my opinion. you know, all those great runs where, you know, he would have guys the next one. And I’m sure he would say, you know, some were better than others, but um but making sure that in that moment we’re not rushing in to make a decision. And I think you saw that Matt, you know, there was a a lag time between between when Jim left and when we hired Matt where I think, you know, a lot of people were like, man, he’s going to hire one here pretty soon, you know, but um it left us in a tough spot because spring cycle was already sort of done and so it was so late, but you know, the fact that Matt was available, um man, it ended up being a home run. And so, um, just being thorough and making sure we’re doing what’s right by the players. I think getting some of their feedback is important. You know, talking to Caleb, talking to Sunny, you know, what do you guys think about this? And then the last part, which is probably the most important part, is getting the feedback of the assistant coaches because, you know, Tim, James, Larry, Matt, they they have to work with whoever this guy is who comes in. And that’s probably the part that maybe isn’t getting recognized enough because yeah, Jim did a great job last year. Matt’s doing a great job this year. What’s the common denominator? Those coaches and the players. So, um I think we have the best defensive coaching staff in America. And I think sometimes, you know, they don’t get recognized enough. Not that, you know, we’re to get recognized, but those guys have put the work in behind the scenes and and they’re doing a great job. So, uh, it’s a long answer, but that’s kind of some of the things that went into it. Kind of another question along those lines. You’re going against Jim Nolles, obviously, who was successful here, but even Matt Patricia is even better. What is it about him schematically, what he’s done, and what is it maybe in terms of his personality and building chemistry and a bond with players that’s enabled that to happen? I think it’s all the above and um yeah, we still have a lot of football to play. So, the story is yet to be told, but it’s not easy to do, but you have to build and he had a certain level of credibility because of his past and his resume. But when he came in and he let his personality go and he connected with the people in the building, I think that’s, you know, early on what gave him some early wins. And then, you know, we played well early in the season and and the guy there was belief there and then there was confidence built in. And so, you know, that combined with Sunny, Caleb, KJ, Kaden, IGB, guys who had been it before that can bring guys along and make them better, which I think player when they make others better. And I think that has had a huge Caleb, he feels stronger. They feel stronger together. when Arvel’s next to Sunny, you know, he feels stronger now. Now that we’re halfway through the season, I think that we know what we have with these guys and they they have confidence and now they’re bringing other people along. Um, but then the other part of it is the staff, you know, and um, these guys work hard, you know, and and you know, Matt puts together the plan and does a great job, but but those are the guys that are, you know, on the front lines for a defense with the coordinator that you’re familiar with, how much is how valuable is the self you’ve done in years past and helping you, is there valuable at all? Can you still put a lot of stock into that at all? you know, we look at everything and you know, I know they do, too. And so, um, sometimes when you have so many years against somebody, you know, you you have so much stuff that you can get yourself distracted. It’s going to come down to fundamentals in this game as we know. Um, he will definitely have some curve balls. He always does. So, we have to identify what those are early on and then go from there. You do asked you earlier about sort of the mental preparation for this Penn State team. You guys this season have have kind of gone about your business every week. You’ve talked about it, but it would be easy as the defending national champions, 7-0, all this for guys to have a let down. Why has that not happened week in week out? Well, the first thing about football is you only have so many opportunities. So, like, you know, we we have 12 that are guaranteed. That’s it. And we work really hard around here to have those opportunities. And these guys have worked their entire life for these opportunities. And nothing’s guaranteed in life, you know, if we didn’t learn anything from this past week. I mean, nothing’s guaranteed. So, like, we have to live every day like it’s like it’s our last game. That’s the way we have to look at it. Um, and so we have to be in the moment and we have to master the process of week in and week out. And the test is on Saturday. And so, you’ve heard me say it before again, not flashy, but like being disciplined enough to continually do it week in and week out and being consistent. So, that’s the message. not easy, but um you know, I think our guys are up for the challenge. Um but it all comes down to the way we train. That’s why two, you know, two hours from now, we got to have a great meeting. We got to get going. We got to have a great practice and and then we’ll get an idea what’s what’s going to happen this week. But um you know, we have to continue to upgrade as players. We have to upgrade as coaches. We have to upgrade as teams, you know, in terms of offense, defense, and special teams. And then we have to continue to play really, really hard. And uh and that’s it. I mean, there’s nothing, you know, magical about it. And people are going to say, “What’s the key to this game?” Well, taking care of the football, you know, stopping a run, running the ball. I mean, that those things aren’t changing. Um, it’s a society that wants something new, wants something that’s flashy, but it’s those things that are going to make the difference in the end. So, we have to keep bringing to the table every week and be consistent. You look at Kane McDonald and his ability to stop the run this year. How helpful has that been on this defensive line? He needed someone to step up there and it really seems like he’s taking that off. Yeah, he’s growing each week. Um I think he still has a high ceiling. I think he still um could be an even more productive player, but you’re seeing the capability there and you’re seeing him become more consistent and um like we said, great defenses are built from inside out and he’s a big part of our defense. We know that. He knows that and so we need that consistency out of him. But you guys see the potential just like we do and um you know but again the exciting thing is he’s not tapped out and and he’s been a huge part of us so far and now we really need him down the home stretch and um he has the ability to be a game record. Um how would you describe your relationship with Jim Nolles and how would you describe like this program’s relationship with NLS as you get to go against a guy who’s in this building for three years? Yeah. um you know, when like any relationship when it breaks off, you know, sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad, but um there really hasn’t been much communication. Um you know, he did a great job when he was here. Um you know, helped us win a national championship and kind of left it at that and then it was, you know, hey, we got to go make a replacement and move on from there. So, um yeah, that’s that’s kind of how it is and um it was abrupt, but we certainly respect the work that he did when he was here. Is it I mean coaches move on, but is it any different when he goes down the road to a a Big 10 rival as opposed to some other job? I think it goes back to what we were saying earlier just about how college football and how it’s changed and um you know the money and everything like that. It’s just you’re seeing some things that maybe we’re not used to, but you know, I guess when you look at the NFL, you see more of that than you would in college, but I guess we’re getting more like the NFL. So, um, we try not to take those things personal, but, um, we are human. Tony, Ryan, you mentioned wanting to see recognition for your coaches. The coaching carousel right now is speeding up. It’s two months earlier than you’d probably like to see it. So, you do have coaches being recognized in terms of being thrown around there. How does that impact you and and day-to-day game planning with coaches? How do you how do you keep it from impacting that? And can you anymore expect to return your coordinators year after year? I mean, I hope so. That’s the goal. Um, but you don’t know. You don’t know what’s coming next. Um, it makes you wake up a couple minutes earlier every day and stay up a little later. That’s just the reality of it. But, but this is this is the world we live in and there’s nothing better. It’s the most competitive environment there is in the entire world. And, uh, you know, get your blood flowing every day. And it’s great to be around these guys. And you we say it all the time like it’s a privilege to be a part of this, man. You’re relevant. You’re in the middle of it all. Let’s go. And I just I want to make sure our players, our coaches, everybody doesn’t look back in 10 years, 20 years and say, man, like th those are the best times in our in our lives, and we were worried about X, Y, and Z. No, no, no. Just go out there and play, man. Be the most prepared team in the country and go enjoy it. Um and enjoying is winning, you know. So, um I think we we have the ability right now to focus on, you know, the task at hand. And that right now is is Penn State. It’s all about the Nitney Lions and and these these games against Penn State have always been a battle. It was a battle last year and it’s going to be a battle this year. So, um, but we knew that when we saw the schedule like, okay, that, you know, we’re not going to circle opponents on our schedule, but we know that that one’s going to be a battle and we it’s a matchup game that we’re going to have to bring it at home. So, we also need the fans. Um, I think our fans have been great uh this year, but we we got to be the we got to be at our best. They got to be at their best. you know, make it as hard as possible and um make it a really difficult environment for them to operate in. Coach, uh just the running back position, you’ve got Isaiah West kind of coming on there, it feels like here mid-season, I assume, as you’ll say, you’re going to go out to practice today and see who’s most productive and those kind of things and figure out the reps, but do you have a feel pretty good feel about what you guys are going to be able to do with those that collection of backs going into this game? Um, yeah, I think so. Yeah, I think so. I mean, we’ll we’ll go through the week and figure out what gives us the best chance, but um, you know, we have really good backs, they have really good backs, you know, and I think that’s another way to look at some of these matchup games is, you know, um, are you running harder than their backs, you know, and, um, are they running harder than us, you know, if so, why? You know, like, so I think, um, their backs are very good. Um, both of them, you know, run really, really hard and, um, and we we need to do the same thing with our guys. So, uh, we’ll keep looking at it. I mean, we do have some young backs. I think that they’re growing every day and building, but to say we have like a veteran guys like we did last year, we know exactly what we have week in and week out is probably not accurate. So, these guys got to have a great week and and then go out and prove themselves um on Saturday and that’s it. Ryan, college players can gamble on pro sports now and I just wonder since that’s passed, what what guidance, advice have you given your players on that and how do you feel about it? Yeah, we we have yearly we have um a huge talk about gambling. Gambling is really one of the hot topics every year. I try to identify, we try to identify as a staff the top four or five things that we think can jam our players up and distract them or get themselves off track. And one of them is gambling. Um it’s just completely changed and I think that’s another part of this game that’s changed. you know, the the fans, the people who are just are gambling on the game and then they’re even more vested than they’ve ever been before because not only is their team winning or losing, but they’re winning or losing financially. So, there’s a lot that comes with that. Um, and so we talked to our our guys a lot about that part of it. Um, it used to be that you were not allowed to bet on um a sport where there was a NCAA championship. Now, that’s changed. So, um the message hasn’t changed in terms of um that part of it. And it’s a losing proposition as we know. But um we try to post as many CJ Barnett right now. You’ll see in our locker room a bunch of articles about some of the stuff that’s gone on most recently about people getting jammed up with that. We try to post them to make our guys aware. Um it’s just one area that we try to educate our players. We do a lot more of that in the offseason, but it is a good reminder during the by-week. Uh thanks Mike. Uh follow up real quick on that thing about your assistant coach. It’s not my real question, but do you require them to Fake question. Yeah. You require them to alert you when they’re being contacted. Is there like a I don’t know respect thing going on there? Just let me know what’s up. I mean, yeah. How does that work? Because obviously, like was said, a lot of guys are getting their names Bandy. Yeah. It’s it’s about, you know, everyone has their, you know, their name and and their character and how they want to handle things. And, you know, um I try to do what’s right by, you know, assistant coaches. when you hire somebody, you try to call the coach. Um it’s not always as linear as you’d like to think. There’s a lot of dynamics at play and it doesn’t always work exactly the way you want to, but um but yeah, um I think our guys have always done a good job of communicating. If there’s things out there, they communicated to me just to let me know. Um you know, I’m always, you know, understanding in terms of those types of things. But um but we have a we have a job to do here, you know, and it’s mid-season and we got um you know, those guys got to make sure they stay focused and I’ve been through that before, too. Um but the bottom line is if you want to get a really good job, just do a really good job with the one you’re at and a lot of good things will happen. Maybe they’ll wait till the middle of January right now. I’m just messing. Uh uh this team’s APR has never been higher. uh you look at this defense and the changes that have been made, it looks a lot different in some ways than last year and stuff. Is that a product like you were talking about about Patricia and the coaches, but also the I don’t know the IQ of the players that you have and do you actively how do you identify IQ in a football player? And you think y’all done a pretty good job of that? Yeah. Yeah. We want to be tough, but we also want to be smart and Yeah. If you want to know how disciplined somebody is, you know, um look at their grades, you know, see how they’re doing. You know, are they tardy for class? Um it’s not always how it works. You know, there’s some guys who don’t get great grades who are really football um smart, but you know, we do look at those things and we want guys to do well in the classroom because we feel like how you do one thing is how you do everything. You know, if you’re taking care of, we do meetings weekly and go through everybody in a building who has interaction with our players. We go through them and our academic folks will give a trend on our players and typically how they’re doing in the classroom is how they’re doing on the field. It’s not 100% but pretty darn close. Oh, he was late for a meeting. He missed an assignment. And then you get to the football coach, he says, “Yeah, he’s not doing very well. He missed an assignment on play three and he’s not finishing, you know, blah blah blah.” and you know, nope. He was on time. Everything’s in order. He got a great grade. He’s prepared. He shows up on time, does all his work, and then by the time you get to the coach, he’s doing great. He shows up in meetings, takes great notes, and um, you know, knows what he’s doing on the field, got a great attitude. Then you get to coach Marotti. Yep. He’s there early. He’s um disciplined in his weight training. Then you get to the training staff. Yes, he’s there early, gets his treatment, gets his recovery, leaves on time, he’s good to work with in the training room. like all of those um understand that they need everybody in a building and I think it’s it’s the players job to make sure that they endear themselves to everybody in the Woody and it’s our job um to make sure that we surround them with the best of the best and to try to build these players up to maximize themselves. And so all that goes into play to make sure we’re bringing the right people. Yep, you got it. Thanks.
