Skull Session: Taron Vincent Gets Mic’d Up, C.J. Stroud Is a Great Leader, Jim Tressel Returns to Ohio Stadium and Nick Myers Is a Good Lacrosse Coach

By Chase Brown on August 22, 2022 at 5:00 am
Taron Vincent was mic’d up at Ohio State practice.
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This week starts with good news and bad news.

The good news is college football starts this week. The bad news is Ohio State doesn't play until next week.

Yes, this Saturday's slate is full of excellent games like Nebraska against Northwestern, Idaho State at UNLV, UConn at Utah State and Wyoming at Illinois.

Yawn.

Don't get me wrong – I will love having college football to watch this weekend, but the football season doesn't start until the Buckeyes play the Golden Domers on Sept. 3, when Lee Corso puts on a Brutus headcover yelling that he thinks Ohio State wins big and 100,000-plus fans pack into the Horseshoe.

With that said, let's enjoy our last week without Ohio State football, shall we?

 ON THE MIC. At this point, the NFL has seemingly mastered the art of Mic’d Up content for its players. The concept is relatively simple: place a microphone on a well-liked athlete, have them play football and hopefully, that player will say a few entertaining or funny things along the way.

This form of media has rarely been seen at the collegiate level, and I don’t recall it ever being something Ohio State has tried. That changed when the Buckeyes mic’d up defensive tackle Taron Vincent for practice during fall camp. 

As someone who has interviewed Vincent several times, I can comfortably say this is a side of Vincent that few are privileged enough to see, so I am thankful to the Ohio State football media team for putting something like this together.

More good content like this, please and thank you. I need to see Vincent pick on Marvin Harrison Jr. for the rest of my life.

 O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN! (PART TWO) Speaking of good content, Ohio State released another video of a captain calling his mother, and folks, it’s as good as the first one. The initial clip of offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson and tight end Cade Stover calling Stover’s mother was followed by one of quarterbacks coach Corey Dennis and C.J. Stroud doing Stroud’s mother.

As mentioned in a previous Skull Session, Stroud was the only captain not named an Iron Buckeye after the offseason, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t work hard to improve his body and throwing mechanics in the spring and summer. It’s possible Stroud is the hardest-working player on the team, but he’d never tell you that because of his humility.

Stroud’s humility is one of the many qualities that have made him the top leader in the Ohio State locker room, accentuated by the Rancho Cucamonga, California native receiving the most captain votes of any player this year.

Admire and appreciate Stroud while you have him, Buckeye Nation. He could very well be one of the greatest quarterbacks in school history when it comes down to it, especially if he brings home a national championship for Ohio State this season.

 TRESSEL’S STILL GOT IT. On the 100th anniversary of Ohio Stadium, former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel delivered a fantastic speech to those gathered at the Horseshoe. 

Former linebacker Bobby Carpenter, who played for Tressel from 2002-05, recorded almost nine minutes of Tressel at the podium. Even after 12 years away from the program, it’s clear the legendary head coach still bleeds scarlet and gray.

One of my favorite Ohio State “What if…?” scenarios asks, “What if Jim Tressel hadn’t stopped coaching the Buckeyes in 2010?” This hypothetical always encourages me to ask more follow-up questions, such as: How much longer would Tressel have coached? Would he have won any more national titles? Would Urban Meyer still have come to Ohio State? Would Ohio State have adapted to the modern era of college football?

All of the questions are entertaining to consider, but they remain hypothetical nonetheless. Tressel retired after the 2010 season, which led to Meyer and Ryan Day after him. Through the work of those three men, the Buckeyes have landed in a great place, with each of them playing a significant role in the history of Ohio State football.

Oh, and John Cooper laid some of the groundwork, too.

 OLYMPIC VILLAGE. Ohio State men’s lacrosse head coach Nick Myers and senior defenseman Jacob Snyder are gold medalists.

Over the weekend, the United States U-21 men’s national team won the Men’s U-21 World Championship in Limerick, Ireland, with Myers at the helm and Snyder a key contributor. The Americans were dominant, outscoring their opponents 54-12 in four pool play games. In the championship game, the U.S. never trailed Team Canada and won 12-10.

Myers’ staff included two former Buckeyes – Pat Myers, a 2003 graduate of Ohio State, and Andre Stimmel, a team captain in 2010. The Canadian team also had representatives of the scarlet and gray, including junior Trent DiCicco and sophomore Alex Marinier.

The Buckeyes will continue to be in good standing with Myers as the program’s head coach. In May, the veteran program leader signed a five-year contract extension through the 2027 season.

 SONG OF THE DAY. “Vagabond” by CAAMP.

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