One day, maybe I'll be at peace with last season ended. And I can't tell if this (whatever *this* is) is helping or hurting.
Weirdos https://t.co/BnuxiQOnKk
— Damon Arnette (@damon_arnette) July 28, 2020
Ill never forgive those referees https://t.co/57aLDADmGq
— Jeff Okudah (@jeffokudah) July 28, 2020
Word of the Day: Idiosyncrasy.
MORE COACHES. Roster depth has always been important, but this year, teams are gonna need a deep coaching staff, too.
This would allow teams to space out practices more easily w/ social distancing and still have instruction. Also, these are the folks who can sub in for assistant coaches if they get sick, so it makes sense.
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) July 29, 2020
And because I'm keenly aware that your football-poisoned brain immediately began to consider whether this helps or hurts the Buckeyes, I'll just go ahead and let my broken brain do that considering openly, cause lord knows I'm right there with you.
And the good news is, there's no way this doesn't help Ohio State. Not only can the Buckeyes afford a massive, massive coaching staff relative to almost everyone else, but this is also the place those behind-the-scenes guys go before taking an actual on-field assistant coaching role elsewhere or after retiring from a more rigorous coaching position.
So basically, there's a lot of them, and they're among the best.
LET THE OPT OUTS BEGIN. Yesterday, we saw the first Power Five player decide to opt out of the college football season due to concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic as projected first-round pick Caleb Farleya announced he'll be leaving Virginia Tech to train for the NFL Draft.
Here is former Virginia Tech CB Caleb Farleya announcement that he is opting out of the college football season to train and turn pro, sent to ESPN: pic.twitter.com/5j4FmQvGKy
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 29, 2020
And it sounds like this could just be the tip of the iceberg.
Hearing we can expect NCAA opt outs to begin any day now.
— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) July 29, 2020
And there could be a significant number of them as players look to the 2021 Draft instead of the uncertainty of the NCAA season.
Absolutely.
— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) July 29, 2020
Again, my brain football-poisoned brain went to work, immediately thinking of Shaun Wade, whose parents have already made clear he has no intention of playing a spring season. And my stomach did a brief somersault when I saw that his dad retweeted a Tweet about Farleya's decision.
But Randy put us all at ease.
2 each his own.... I'm pretty sure "THE Shadow" gotta rematch with with Goldy Locks #GoBucks #WearAMask pic.twitter.com/7vXajUCfxa
— Randy L Wade% f@Ly..... (@gslsff) July 29, 2020
Now, this doesn't mean he couldn't change his mind, and it doesn't mean that no other Buckeyes are going to opt out (looking at you, Mr. Fields), but I'd have to imagine most of these players – if not all – will be from non-title contenders.
But hey, if a high-profile Buckeye wants to move on, you gotta do what you gotta do. It wouldn't be the first time Ohio State's had to make a key roster adjustment, and it won't be the last.
THE CURTIS SAMUEL POSITION. It would seem that the Carolina Panthers are discovering that Curtis Samuel can do pretty much everything, and have decided that's a good thing for their football team.
One player Matt Rhule is interested in seeing all he can do is wide receiver Curtis Samuel. He'd like to see Samuel play more of the role he did at Ohio State where he was used as a wideout, in the slot and as a running back. In many ways Samuel is like running back Christian McCaffrey in that he can do it all. McCaffrey just does it all better than anybody else.
I'll never forget the time I wrote about Samuel's absurd versatility and jokingly lamented that he couldn't kick, only to have to update the article later when his high school coach informed us that Curt can, indeed, kick.
Regarding your article (which was awesome!) Curt can kick too..lol..not much he cant do https://t.co/2ypKEUY6jH
— Ray Lizzi (@coachmouse1) November 6, 2016
Every football player should just be Curtis Samuel. Then we wouldn't even need positions.
BUBBLES WORK. There's been a lot of talk about instituting isolated bubbles to bring sports back safely. After a few weeks, it's looking like the bubbles work pretty damn well.
The bubble impact on sports:
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) July 29, 2020
NBA: 0 positive tests since July 13th
NHL: 0 positive tests in 4,256 administered in 7-day span July 18th-25th
MLS: 0 positive tests in last nine major rounds of testing
NWSL: 0 positive tests during its entire tournament
Huge.
The bad news is, there's no way this is feasible for college football. But hey, we're a week in and the baseball season is still alive with no bubble necessary. Maybe this is possible?
SONG OF THE DAY. "1979" by The Smashing Pumpkins.
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