Cotton Bowl Media Day Notebook: Keenan Bailey Taking On Additional Duties for CFP, C.J. Hicks and Malik Hartford Discuss Redshirt Decisions and Ethan Onianwa Putting Team First

Monday’s Cotton Bowl media day gave us our first opportunity of the season to talk to anyone we wanted on Ohio State’s roster and coaching staff.

While typical weekly media availabilities feature a selection of players and coaches hand-selected by Ohio State, every player and every coach who made the trip to Texas for the Buckeyes’ College Football Playoff quarterfinal vs. Miami was available during Monday’s 45-minute media availability at AT&T Stadium.

That gave us the chance to catch up with numerous Ohio State players that we hadn’t talked to since the offseason, such as redshirting defenders C.J. Hicks and Malik Hartford, offensive lineman Ethan Onianwa, freshman wide receiver Quincy Porter and linebacker Joey Velazquez, who has the incredibly rare opportunity to win three straight national championships after transferring from Michigan to Ohio State in 2024. It also allowed us to talk to assistant coaches who weren’t regularly available during the season, such as co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Keenan Bailey.

Ahead of Wednesday’s clash between Ohio State and Miami in Arlington, we’ve compiled some of what each of those six Buckeyes had to say about topics of interest during our interviews with each of them on Monday.

“Almost business as usual” for Bailey despite added responsibilities

Ryan Day isn’t the only one taking on additional responsibilities with Ohio State’s offense during the College Football Playoff due to Brian Hartline’s impending departure for South Florida.

While Day is taking over offensive play calling duties from Hartline, he’s said multiple times that co-offensive coordinator Keenan Bailey is also “very much involved” in the offensive operation for the CFP. Bailey will take Hartline’s place as the eye in the sky for the offense in the Cotton Bowl, as he’ll coach from the press box while Hartline will coach from the sideline in a reversal of roles from the regular season and Big Ten Championship Game.

Bailey, who regularly coaches Ohio State’s tight ends, also spent time coaching Ohio State’s wide receivers during the Buckeyes’ Cotton Bowl preparations as Hartline spent some time in Tampa preparing for his first season as USF’s head coach before returning to Columbus for Ohio State’s CFP run.

The extra work hasn’t felt like a big change for Bailey, though, because of how collaborative Ohio State’s coaching staff already was.

“Has it been different for me? Yeah, I've had to do some different things. Not roles that I haven't done in the past, but however I could help make it easier for (Hartline), for the players, for Coach Day, I will do anything for those guys,” Bailey told Eleven Warriors. “We've been so collaborative over the last decade – myself, Hart, Coach Day, even (quarterbacks coach Billy Fessler) has been here for quite some time – we have such a great chemistry that it's not that much different, right? Now ultimately with Coach Hart's deal, Coach Day, everything goes through him. But from a day-to-day standpoint, it's been almost business as usual.”

Bailey, who could be a candidate to replace Hartline as Ohio State’s wide receivers coach next season – if not to replace Hartline as offensive coordinator – said he enjoyed spending more time with the wide receivers because of the role he played in recruiting many of them, specifically starters Carnell Tate, Brandon Inniss and Jeremiah Smith.

“To step back in there and coach them, it was kind of refreshing,” Bailey said.

Day has trusted Bailey to take on additional responsibilities for the CFP because of the consistent work Bailey has put in throughout his tenure at Ohio State, where he’s worked his way up from joining the staff as an offensive intern in 2016.

“He means a lot to us on offense. He does a lot of the heavy lifting. He's kind of the guy behind the scenes who does all the dirty work for us in terms of like the preparation, the cut-ups, the motivation,” Day said Wednesday. “He's the first guy in the building, the last guy to leave. He's a hard worker, and he knows what we want to get done. And that has a tremendous amount of value to our offense.”

Hicks, Hartford talk redshirt decisions

C.J. Hicks and Malik Hartford both decided to redshirt after Ohio State’s fourth game of the season, choosing to preserve their remaining eligibility by sitting out the rest of the regular season.

In Hicks’ case, his decision was purely about giving himself another year to develop and hopefully play a bigger role in 2026. After making the transition from linebacker to defensive end in the offseason, Hicks had played just 50 snaps in Ohio State’s first four games of the year, so he decided after consulting with OSU defensive coordinator Matt Patricia that he should redshirt rather than using up his final season of eligibility this year.

“It was really my decision,” Hicks said. “I had a long meeting with Coach Patricia, and I felt like that was best for me.”

Asked if he felt like he wasn’t ready to play a bigger role at defensive end this year, Hicks replied, “Not necessarily, but it doesn't hurt to continue to work on your craft.”

Since postseason games don’t count against redshirt eligibility, Hicks is hopeful he’ll have the opportunity to play a role in the CFP. He didn’t play any snaps on defense against Indiana in the Big Ten Championship Game, but could potentially have the opportunity to work his way back into the defensive end rotation in the playoff.

While Hicks says he’ll talk to Patricia and Ohio State defensive line coach Larry Johnson about what his role could be next season, he said he’s focused on being where his feet are right now and doing whatever he can to help Ohio State beat Miami in the Cotton Bowl.

“Just focus on being consistent, whenever the team needs me, making a play with my numbers called, and just continue to be a great teammate, a great leader,” Hicks said when asked how he thinks he can help the team in the CFP.

As for Hartford, his decision to redshirt was partially driven by injury. Shortly after making the decision to redshirt, Hartford underwent surgery for what he described as “some things that I needed cleaned up in my shoulder.” He remains out as a result of that surgery, and was wearing a sling during Monday’s media day.

Hartford, who competed with Jaylen McClain to be Ohio State’s starting strong safety going into the season, said it has been hard to watch from the sideline. But with two remaining years of eligibility and Caleb Downs likely to leave for the NFL draft after this season, he’s optimistic he can make a big impact in 2026.

“It’s tough, but the team is doing great and that's what matters most,” Hartford said. “Just hopefully make a big contribution next year.”

Porter on injury: “Everything’s all figured out”

Another player who’s out for the Cotton Bowl due to injury is freshman wide receiver Quincy Porter, who also missed the Buckeyes’ final two games of the regular season and the Big Ten Championship Game. Porter did not disclose the specifics of his injury to Eleven Warriors, but indicated that he is on the road to recovery.

“I think everything's all figured out,” Porter said. “For this week, though, I'm just gonna support my team, and hopefully we get the win this week.”

Porter, the first member of Ohio State’s freshman class to lose his black stripe this year, admitted it’s been frustrating not to be able to play down the stretch of the season after entering the season with high expectations. But he also recognizes that comes with the territory of playing football at Ohio State.

“It's football, so there are gonna be ups and downs,” Porter said.

The five-star prospect has caught just four passes for 59 yards this season, but is confident he’ll make a bigger impact in the future if he continues to put in the work.

“Just putting in the work that I always have and having it show on the field,” Porter said when asked how he thinks he can earn a bigger role next season.

Onianwa putting team first amid smaller-than-expected role

There might not be any Ohio State player who’s played a smaller role relative to preseason expectations than Ethan Onianwa.

When Onianwa transferred to Ohio State after starting at offensive tackle for three years at Rice, the expectation was that he’d be the Buckeyes’ starting left tackle. Instead, he’s not even one of the top backups on Ohio State’s offensive line. Ian Moore has been Ohio State’s top backup tackle behind Austin Siereveld and Phillip Daniels, while Gabe VanSickle and Joshua Padilla have emerged as the next men up at guard behind Luke Montgomery and Tegra Tshabola.

But Onianwa is still embracing the opportunity he has to be a Buckeye and play in the College Football Playoff, starting with the Cotton Bowl in his home state of Texas.

“It’s a blessing, really,” Onianwa said. “Being from Texas, watching the Cotton Bowl growing up and everything, it’s really neat to be a part of a team that's playing in my home state, especially in a big game like the Cotton Bowl.”

Even though he hasn’t played as much as expected, seeing just 96 snaps on offense so far this year, Onianwa believes his year at Ohio State has prepared him well to pursue a career in the NFL as he’s learned what it takes to compete at the highest level of college football, as well as developing his versatility by taking snaps at both tackle and guard.

For now, Onianwa says he’s focused on just doing whatever he can to help the team win.

“It's just understanding how I can contribute to the team the best. At the end of the day, it's a team sport, we're all contributing to the main goal, and that's to be national champions,” Onianwa said. “It’s finding ways to be helpful to the team, whether it's in practice, whether it's on field goal.”

Velazquez “blessed” for chance to compete for third national title

No team has won three straight national championships since Minnesota pulled off the three-peat from 1934-36, but Ohio State linebacker Joey Velazquez has the chance to accomplish the feat as an individual if the Buckeyes can make another run through the CFP.

After playing at Michigan from 2019-23, Velazquez is in his second year with the Buckeyes. The walk-on from Columbus, who plays regularly on special teams for Ohio State, admits he never would have imagined he’d be in the position he’s in now two years ago, but he’s not taking it for granted.

“Yeah, it's awesome. Just coming here every day, getting to work out with the guys and blessed to be in this opportunity,” Velazquez said. “It's been really nice to be back home, playing in front of my family, being close to my family, obviously having incredible runs right now, so I'm just really blessed to be here.”

Because of his move across rivalry lines, Velazquez has been a frequent target of Michigan fans on social media and message boards, who have speculated that Velazquez played a role in the NCAA uncovering the sign-stealing scheme by former Michigan analyst Connor Stalions that led to sanctions against the program earlier this year. Velazquez wasn’t interested in talking about what’s happened at Michigan since his departure, noting that he still has close friends on the team, but said he’s learned to block out the outside noise.

“I don't listen to anybody's opinion that isn't close to me, that’s not my teammates, coaches, or family,” Velazquez said. “I really don't care.”

That said, Velazquez is grateful he’s had the opportunity to be on both sides of the rivalry.

“It's really cool to see both sides of the rivalry, and see how both teams take the rivalry. I think it's really cool to be a part of it on both sides,” Velazquez said. “I love everything about it. I just love The Game, grew up watching it, and being on both sides, it's pretty cool.”