Skull Session: Ryan Day Will Be Elite For the Next Decade, Mack Brown Suggests Summer Practices, and David Lighty Returns Stateside During the Pandemic

By Kevin Harrish on March 24, 2020 at 4:59 am
The 'Shoe is ready to be used in today's skull session.
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I must say, Mike DeWine was looking exceptionally dapper during his presser yesterday.

I wouldn't be mad if he rocked a sweater vest to a press conference in the near future. I'm sure Jim Tressel could hook him up.

Song of the Day: "Your Hand in Mine" by Explosions in the Sky.

Word of the Day: Sequestered.

 DAY OF THE FUTURE. If you're hitching your wagon to any head coach for the next decade, might I suggest Ryan Day, who just won a Big Ten title and made the College Football Playoff in his first season as a head coach, has produced two Heisman Trophy finalists in consecutive years, and is currently out-recruiting everybody else by a mile.

Also, he's just 41 years old.

The fine folks over at The Athletic were convinced by his resumé, and Day went No. 2 overall in their fantasy draft of coaches they'd want for the next 10 years.

Round 1, Pick 2 (No. 2 overall): Ryan Day, Ohio State

This pick is as much about the program as the coach. Ohio State has been good for double-digit wins in all but two of the past 18 seasons. It has the most recruiting cachet and deepest resources in the Big Ten. Day led the Buckeyes to a Playoff berth his first year as head coach, is well-positioned to do it again this year, and, at just 41, it’s easy to imagine him staying in that job for the next decade. — Stewart Mandel

Dabo went No. 1 overall, and I can't form any sort of argument against that with a straight face, at least from a pure numbers standpoint. When my team beats his team – and that day will come –we can talk again. Until then, the throne is his.

Jim Harbaugh, meanwhile, went at No. 22 with the rationale essentially being "he sucks if you expect him to be an elite coach, but he's fine if you expect mediocrity," which is extremely spot on and exactly why I want Michigan to make sure he's one of the five highest-paid coaches for the rest of his life.

 SUMMER CAMP! With all team activities canceled this spring, we've got ourselves an unprecedented shortage of offseason practices.

But rest easy, Mack Brown has a plan: summer camp.

That last part is the key, and it seems that hinges on our collective ability to stay the hell away from each other, which isn't looking promising.

But maybe a goal will help, because let me tell you, if becoming a hermit for two weeks is enough to earn me some brief glimpses of football in May or June, I'm cool with going into solitary confinement with my cat. Our tuna stockpile is plentiful.

 WELCOME HOME, DAVE. Quite a few former Ohio State hoopers were caught overseas when the coronavirus began to spread. Aaron Craft is hunkering down in Italy, but David Lighty got home ASAP when he grasped how serious it was getting.

“My family was relieved,” said Lighty, who plays pro basketball in France. “My grandma cried when I landed. They’re all happy to see me home.”

...

“I just got back home last Tuesday,” Lighty said. “The borders were closing in France and our team owner [former NBA player Tony Parker] said it was best we leave and be with our families.”

Now back in Ohio, Lighty will comply with the state’s issued order to stay at home to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. And he’ll have to find ways to remain in shape in case the Euroleague returns to action.

“I’ll do home workouts and workout in the backyard,” Lighty said. “It’s tough with so much in limbo. There’s a lot of leagues trying to find solutions but no one knows when all of this will clear up enough for us to start.”

And with basketball on hold, it looks like Lighty is planning to enter the labor force.

I want to make crystal clear to any prospective job givers out there: I, also, will work at this rate. In fact, I will undercut Mr. Lighty. I will do the job for $50 an hour. I do not care what the job is. I will do it.

 ALL HANDS ON DECK. The NFL Physicians Society has decided that the NFL actually doesn't need to be using medical supplies on routine physicals in the midst of a public health crisis.

There's not a doubt in my mind that this is the right and obvious thing to do, but it is another obstacle for some projected late-round guys, especially the ones with an injury history (which, let's be real, is almost every player).

These guys have already lost their pro days, now they can't even have a physical to prove they're healthy.

 STAY INSIDE, GET BETTER. Social distancing hasn't brought everything related to sports to a screeching halt just yet (y'all still have me!), it's just forced a little more creativity.

And it looks like Brian Hartline's doing just fine on that front.

I'm not sure how possible it is to coach a wide receiver through skype, but if anyone can make it work, it's going to be Brian Hartline.

 NOT STICKING TO SPORTS. A man is arrested for coughing in a cops' faces and claiming he had coronavirus... The hottest parties in town are now online... The Dutch psychiatrist who treated holocaust survivors with LSD... The conman who swindled $2 million from nine women had so many identities that he struggled to keep track of who he was... The maker of Purell is accused of 'misleading' customers in a class-action lawsuit... Colombian death squads are exploiting the coronavirus lockdown to kill activists.

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