How do you replace a legend?
To put it simply, you cannot. However, DJ is on a well-deserved vacation somewhere in Canada and, for the rest of the week, you'll be stuck with a rotating stable of writers to present the daily Skull Session. I, Tim, have the unfortunate challenge of going first.
We're not sure if DJ is coming back. Would anybody be surprised if he didn't? Who knows what that man is going to do on a weeklong vacation in the Canadian mountains.
Anyway, let's get to it on this fine Monday morning.
ICYMI:
- The rest of the Select '17 arrived on campus over the weekend.
- Tracy Sprinkle, the forgotten man on Ohio State's defensive line?
- June crootin' mailbag!
- Help put a life-size statue of Woody Hayes in his hometown of Newcomerstown, Ohio.
NEW TRAINING CAMP SCHEDULE, PROBABLY. The new rule changes in college football eliminated two-a-day practices from the fall camp schedule.
Obviously, this affects every program in the country and coaches everywhere — including Urban Meyer — are trying to figure out a way to adjust.
“Big time,” he said. “You have 29 practices (allowed in the run-up to the season), it’s kind of time-tested. There’s a theory, a template on how to get a team ready. And all of a sudden you wake up one day and they say you have 24 practices — coaches panic, I panic. How are you going to get them ready?”
The NCAA said it will allow schools to add a week or so to preseason camp to accommodate the 29 practices, if desired.
“So one choice is to bring the players in earlier, and I am so — that breaks my heart because I don’t want these players to take more of their time,” Meyer said. “However, how do you get ’em ready? That’s what we’re fighting through right now, so it’s a major impact.”
Spoiler: Meyer isn't going to eliminate five practices from his calendar. It'd be stunning if Ohio State didn't just start camp a week earlier.
But Meyer is right, that takes a week of summer vacation away from the players. Of course, it's not like that matters to the NCAA. The players hardly ever matter to the NCAA.
NO PLACE LIKE HOME. Defensive back Rodjay Burns announced his transfer from the Ohio State program last month. It wasn't a huge loss to Kerry Coombs' meeting room, but it certainly will have an impact on the Buckeyes' depth at the position.
Burns cited a desire to be closer to his family as a reason for the transfer. Columbus isn't too far away from Burns' hometown of Louisville, but it wasn't close enough for what his family was reportedly dealing with.
Concerns about his father's health – Rod also had a knee operation last year as well as a situation where doctors thought that he might have colon cancer (he doesn't) – were on Rodjay's mind when the former All-State player from Trinity High School decided to transfer home last month from Ohio State to U of L.
"I told him, as a father, I'll be all right," Rod Burns said. "Any father wants to tell their child that he's going to be all right and 'Just go do what you need to do.' Well, I guess it was just on his conscience that he wanted to be closer to home. I couldn't convince him to stay at Ohio State. Ninety percent is me, and the other 10 percent is I believe he always wanted to be at Louisville."
As it turned out, Rod said his latest exam showed that he won't require heart surgery, and his doctor believes his chest pain can be resolved by an adjustment to his medication.
Though his condition isn't as bad as was once feared, Rod said, it feels good to have his son back in Louisville and supporting him on a daily basis. Rod is also excited to see his son preparing for his career at U of L, where Rodjay was committed for most of his senior year of high school.
"He feels good to be home," Rod said. "He got a good vibe from the coaches, from coach (Bobby Petrino). He loves it. ... He's just been so happy. He's thrilled to be where he's at right now."
Of course, the fact Burns was likely to be passed on the depth chart probably influenced his decision even more. In the end, though, family is much more important than football.
Burns can always say he had an interception return for a touchdown in his first career college game.
IT AINT ALL THAT PRETTY, FOLKS. The path to becoming part of a coaching staff at a major college athletic program is a daunting one. Frankly, it's not a life cut out for me, the man who sits at his desk all day and types words on the internet about Ohio State sports.
Kyle Davis, the video coordinator for the Ohio State men's basketball team, is a better man than me.
Through his four years as a manager, Davis became the low-level busybody member in the organization that the staff would turn to when things needed to be done. As senior manager, he spent more time in the film room and was in charge of a staff of a dozen or so managers. He was the main point of contact between the staff’s needs and making sure there were managers at the gym for rebounding, opposing team shootarounds and any other task — often with less than two hours notice. Davis helped coordinate official visits, assisted in setting up the team tailgate before football games. He even helped change a tire on State Route 315 on the vehicle of former OSU guard Lenzelle Smith Jr. to ensure he would be on time for practice.
Davis made it his job to do any menial task possible to be recognized as a reliable member of the program.
“He was always around. He was very adamant about getting involved and tried to figure things out,” Crawford said of Davis. “He was just very locked in and it was very clear that he wanted to get into the business.”
Following Davis’ final season in 2014 as a manager, he and then-graduate assistant Weston Strayer made it a mission of theirs to memorize the Sportscode manual from cover to cover.
Now, after two years, Davis said he and Strayer designed 16-20 different programs on the Sportscode software to use and relay information to the coaches.
“No one asked us to do this,” he said. “This is just something that over the years I learned how to do it, I thought it could be a cool thing. I thought it could be more efficient and it allowed me to extend myself to do other things.”
That story, done by Jacob Myers of The Lantern, is long but well worth your time. It's a great look at what exactly Kyle and a lot of other people trying to break into the business have to go through.
It ain't for everyone.
GROWN MAN TREATS OTHER GROWN MAN LIKE RAG DOLL. Former Ohio State linebacker Darron Lee is not a small person. However, in a video that surfaced over the weekend, he certainly looked like one.
Lee was reportedly involved in an incident at a music festival in which his teammate, defensive tackle Leonard Williams, had to remove him from.
Part 1/2 pic.twitter.com/Mvrk1FxIcE
— JB (@gunnerpunner) June 4, 2017
Part 2/2 man getting picked up like a bag of groceries pic.twitter.com/Io7HGBS3Mr
— JB (@gunnerpunner) June 4, 2017
Word on the street says Williams forcefully removed Lee following an argument with a female that may have gotten a bit heated.
Whatever it is that happened, it's not a great look for Lee.
TWO FOR ONE. IndyCar driver and noted Ohio State (and 11W) fan Graham Rahal had himself quite a weekend, claiming wins in back-to-back races in Detroit.
Checkered Flag! @GrahamRahal sweeps the weekend and wins both #DetroitGP races! #INDYCAR https://t.co/1I2Xejdij6 pic.twitter.com/VO4XdkFacS
— IndyCar Series (@IndyCar) June 4, 2017
Ah, yes, another Ohio victory in Michigan.
THOSE WMDs. Millennials killing chain restaurants... Local man mows yard with no fear of tornado... ‘Wonder Woman’ was box office hit... 2020 Olympics to add 3-on-3 basketball... Florida man arrested after flashing money on Facebook Live.
