For every Buckeye fan who's made the pilgrimage to the concrete cathedral on the banks of the Olentangy River, Ohio Stadium has provided some of the most memorable moments not just from the action on the field, but the atmosphere around it.
The heart of that stadium atmosphere is the student section, and the person tasked with leading that section is a lone student named Nick Heydinger. As the Block "O" Director of Football Operations, Nick is tasked with leading the Ohio State student section to create an environment welcoming to Buckeye fans but hostile to opponents.
We caught up with Nick to talk about what his job involves, his thoughts on the stadium atmosphere against Nebraska and Michigan, his favorite Ohio Stadium memories and what he has planned for the 2017 season.
First off, just tell me about what you do as director of football operations. What do you do during the week before game days?
"Being given the opportunity to be Director of Football Operations has been a blessing, but it comes with a lot of hard work. A normal week starts off with an executive board meeting, where sports directors and other officers sit down and discuss important topics and upcoming events for the organization as a whole. On Tuesdays, I run a football committee meeting, where myself and a group of 10-12 other people sit down and discuss new ideas and card stunts, roll t-shirts, and plan all logistics for the upcoming weekend. I am in charge of piecing together a committee of kids who are driven individuals with an overwhelming passion for the organization and the university as a whole. This group and I work together all season, and a lot of the success that goes into planning and new ideas come from the hard work they all put in. On Thursdays, we have our Block "O" general meetings, where all members get updates about events and can sign up to do football set up for the upcoming game.
Fridays are my preparation day, where I have to get the list of all members helping with set up to stadium staff, print out rosters and the card stunt designs, and make sure all of our rolled shirts and other supplies is in our storage cage for Saturday. A lot of the time, I spend my Friday evenings roaming Columbus buying tape, Velcro, or any other supplies we are short on."
What does a typical game day look like?
"A lot of what goes into a game day doesn't happen on Saturday, but rather, the week leading up to the game with all the planning that takes place. Football committee really knocks it out of the park in helping get everything ready. On Saturdays, everyone who signed up to do set up arrives at the stadium 4 hours before kickoff. Students come into the gates and head to Block "O" South (BOS), where they await for my announcements and instructions. After we break, we sort cards and start setting up the card stunt to ensure it gets finished before gates open.
Meanwhile, my committee is getting everything else ready to go. We hang up signs, get promotional items ready, prep our security volunteers and get wristbands ready for ticket checkers. After the stunt gets set up, students are treated by the org to some pizza or doughnuts, depending on the time of day. Some students get painted by our membership committee, while others have volunteered to help us run our own security. Everything about our section is ran by the football committee and set up crew, from the security, to all of the card stunts, cheers, and other fun things we try to do. During the game, cheers are lead by myself and James Prisco, the leader of Block "O" North (BON). Football committee helps keep things running smoothly during the game if any issues arise, and even after the game when we all have to clean up. What makes Block "O" truly great are all of the volunteers that dedicate their time before games to prepare the section."
A lot of people don't know this, but the stadium O-H-I-O chant essentially starts with you, correct? Is it a cool feeling to know that you're nearly single-handedly responsible for that iconic cheer every game day?
"That is correct. Block "O" has two sections, one in north stands and one in south stands. I am lucky to have the opportunity to lead south, where Stadium O-H-I-O normally originates, but cheers can begin from either myself or James in North. While it is tradition that we do it during the coin toss, it's my go to cheer when we need to get the crowd back into the game after some dead time. Knowing that I have such a large role in the game day atmosphere is truly an honor, and is an experience I have always dreamed of. I grew up a Buckeye, and was lucky to have a chance to go to so many games with my dad and grandpa. This role has provided me with so many cool memories that I will always cherish."
Does it get frustrating when the average student doesn't care all that much about the game and shows up late and leaves early?
"It does get a bit frustrating at times when we're handily beating a team and the student attendance numbers begin to dwindle. I'm constantly faced with the task of trying to make the section enjoyable even if the games aren't holding interest. I judge a lot of my success as a leader on our attendance numbers because I think it is a good representation of how enjoyable the game is compared to how much fun they could be having elsewhere. At the end of the day, Block "O's" mission is to support our student athletes. I think some students underestimate the impact they have on our team, even if it's as simple as a player looking up and seeing 30,000 students still in their seats during a game that might not be very close."
Last season, the players, namely Jalyn Holmes, were getting after you guys to be loud on game days. Do you feel a sense of responsibility to get the Shoe rocking and create a home field advantage? What impact do you think that has on recruiting?
I need the shoe going crazy like no other on Saturday night fam
— QB KILLA (@JayHolmes_) October 31, 2016
"I absolutely feel a sense of responsibility to try to create as much of a home field advantage as possible. The energy that pumps through Ohio Stadium starts in our two Block "O" sections. Many of the cheers that you hear in the stadium wouldn't be able to start so uniformly if it wasn't for the leadership and passion on the microphones. The job is more than just yelling a cheer; With the job comes the responsibility to encourage kids to keep yelling to make their presence felt, even when things aren't going our way. During games, I'm constantly trying to push others to give it their all, because I truly believe that what we are able to do in the stands has an effect on what happens on the field.
As for recruiting, I do believe it has an impact. Many recruits that have interest in attending OSU speak of the atmosphere at games, and a lot of that comes back on our organization. Coach Meyer has always done an excellent job giving attention and praise to the students, and I think in return he's gotten some extra motivation out of students to become more engaged."
Holmes specifically mentioned their road trips to Penn State and Wisconsin when talking about hostile environments. What do you see other schools around the country doing that you wish you could replicate here to create a better stadium atmosphere?
"Playing at other schools is tough. When opposing schools have a chance to host the Buckeyes, you better believe they are going to bring all they have to try and beat us. We always see their best, because a lot of the time, we will be one of their best opponents to visit during the year. That being said, it makes playing at schools like Penn State and Wisconsin tougher for us than most other schools. The thing that makes their stadium atmosphere so intimidating are the traditions. I had an opportunity to visit Camp Randall for the OSU/Wisconsin game last season, and had instant chills seeing Jump Around in person. Visiting Happy Valley and seeing the white out firsthand was breathtaking.
The one thing that I believe those two schools have better than us is alumni involvement. When Wisconsin played Jump Around, every single person in the stadium was jumping and singing at the same time. I couldn't spot a single person at Penn State not wearing white. It sometimes seems that we struggle to unite all of our fans on things other than Stadium O-H-I-O, so that will be an improvement area we try to target during the summer."
Right after the players started really getting after you guys to create an electric game-day atmosphere, the Shoe was the loudest I've ever heard it for Nebraska and Michigan. Obviously, the games had a huge impact on that, but did it feel good to be able to follow through and create a hostile environment?
"Absolutely. It was the type of environment that I wanted to achieve during my first year as football director, and the type of environment the team and players deserved. We were finally able to have some big games in the Shoe, and I think that loss lit a fire under everyone and raised the energy level even more. I'm glad players like Jalyn Holmes urged students to bring all they have, because I think students truly took it upon themselves to deliver.
After the Nebraska game, Coach Meyer gave the students the nickname "The 10th Unit," and set up a meeting with me personally to talk about the environment that night. During his tenure here at Ohio State, he has always done a great job of showing appreciation to the students, but the response we got out of him after the Nebraska game was something our organization has never seen before."
What's the atmosphere difference between a night game and a day game? Is Urban Meyer justified for wanting to fill the schedule with prime-time kickoffs?
"The atmosphere is completely different for night and day games. For students, night games are the best thing in the world. You can stay out late Friday night, sleep in Saturday, and still have plenty of time to tailgate and get excited for the game in the evening. Prime-time games always seem to feature a pretty good opponent, making it easier to get excited about the game as opposed to a noon kickoff against Bowling Green, for instance. There's just something about being in the Shoe at night that makes it so much different.
Plus, night games give us more room to get creative. When the band was performing Script Ohio during the Nebraska game last season, we were able to spell out our own script "Ohio" in the Block "O" sections using cell phone lights. From an atmosphere standpoint, I think Coach Meyer is definitely justified for wanting to fill the schedule with prime-time games."
What's your favorite Ohio Stadium memory so far?
"This question is definitely tough, because I have been able to experience so many great memories during games. If I had to pick a favorite game, it would definitely be the roller coaster ride against TTUN last season. My favorite single moment in the stadium happened the first time we did Light Up Stadium O-H-I-O against Nebraska, where fans held up their cell phone lights while screaming their respective letters. Not only was the cheer deafening, but it was also blinding as the lights moved around the stadium. I remember seeing this cheer all over TV and I was shocked it worked so well the first time we tried it.
Despite these, the best memory I can ever take with me is knowing that I have been able to impact so many other students. If you would ask any student here where most of their favorite memories have originated from, many will tell you they are centered around football. Football truly runs deep at this school, and is seen as more of a religion practiced on Saturday afternoons in the Shoe than anything else. Having the opportunity to run Block “O’s” football section has allowed me to create a lot of these memories for other students. As someone who grew up bleeding scarlet and gray, it is a genuinely awesome feeling knowing that I have had a chance to instill passion, love, and pride for this school in the hearts of others who may not have already had these feelings coming in."
The home opener is going to be a prime-time matchup with Oklahoma. Do you think the shoe is going to be rocking? Do you have anything special planned yet?
"I would say right now I have a calm excitement for the game. The adrenaline and anticipation will certainly start building as we near closer to September 9th, but right now, it's all planning mode. This game presents a unique challenge to me that I didn't have last year in this role: we have a prime-time game right from the very beginning and many incoming students aren't familiar with the game day experience yet. My committee and I are going to have to work together to find ways to teach new students cheers and share our expectations of what this atmosphere should be like. I'm confident in our abilities, but we have a lot of work ahead of us if we want to see the atmosphere inside the stadium match the atmospheres from Nebraska and TTUN last season.
As of now, we don't have anything special planned yet, but I have weekly planning meetings starting with a the football program and Fan Experience. Expect some bigger and better things next season, because they will be coming to you soon."
You can follow Nick on Twitter at @NickHeydinger
