Skull Session: ESPN Ranks Ryan Day As the 10th-Best Coach in College Football, Chip Kelly Wants Credit For “College Sports Tomorrow” and Jeremiah Smith Breaks the Internet

By Chase Brown on April 8, 2024 at 5:00 am
Ryan Day
Adam Cairns/USA TODAY Sports
68 Comments

Welcome to the Skull Session.

Ohio State’s defense has looked gooooooooood this spring.

Have a good Monday.

 MAKE IT MAKE SENSE. Last week, ESPN’s college football writers revealed their top 10 college football coaches in 2024. The list featured several well-known and well-respected names: Kirby Smart (Georgia), Kalen DeBoer (Alabama), Kyle Whittingham (Utah), Dabo Swinney (Clemson), Mike Norvell (Florida State), Dan Lanning (Oregon), Steve Sarkisian (Texas), Lane Kiffin (Ole Miss), Lance Leipold (Kansas) and Ryan Day (Ohio State).

For those wondering – yes, that’s in order. 

According to the Worldwide Leader in Sports, Day is the 10th-best coach in college football. Here’s how Mark Schlabach and ESPN’s staff explained the ranking:

Day's teams are 39-3 in Big Ten play the past five-plus seasons, 56-8 overall and played in a New Year's Six bowl game or the CFP in each of his full seasons. The Buckeyes won back-to-back Big Ten titles in his first two seasons (2019 and 2020) and are 18-8 against AP top-25 opponents under Day.

Unfortunately, those Big Ten losses came against that "Team Up North," Michigan, in each of the past three seasons, leaving some Ohio State fans to wonder if Day should be on the hot seat. Whether he can reverse the Buckeyes' losing streak to the Wolverines, especially now that former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh is in the NFL, will go a long way in determining his future.

Day's offenses have been ranked in the top three in the FBS in scoring three times and in total offense four times. Yet the Buckeyes are only 2-4 in bowl games and haven't won a Big Ten title since 2020. Turning over the offensive playcalling to former UCLA head coach Chip Kelly might be the recipe for getting Ohio State back on top in the expanded Big Ten. — Schlabach

*takes a deep breath*

*collects thoughts*

Alright.

Given Ohio State’s lack of postseason accomplishments the past three seasons, I can see where some (including Ohio State fans) would knock Day down a few spots in their college football coach power rankings. However, besides Smart and Swinney – two multi-time national championship-winning head coaches – what do the other seven coaches have that Day does not? 

Day has more Power 4 conference titles (two), more College Football Playoff appearances (three) and more College Football Playoff wins (two) than DeBoer, Whittingham (two conference titles but zero CFP appearances or wins), Norvell, Lanning, Sarkisian, Kiffin and Leipold. He has a 56-8 overall record, with all eight losses coming to teams ranked in the top 25. Day receives criticism for his three consecutive losses to Michigan, but he’s not the first coach to have a rough stretch against a rival. (Remember, Smart started 0-4 against Nick Saban and Alabama before the Bulldogs defeated them in the 2022 CFP final).

Make it make sense, ESPN.

Make it make sense.

 CHIP KELLY’S GOT JOKES. On Thursday, The Athletic reported that “a group of influential leaders” has proposed an 80-team college football league called “College Sports Tomorrow.” Following the announcement, new Ohio State offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Chip Kelly raised a lighthearted question to Stewart Mandel, The Athletic’s editor-in-chief for college football.

“Do I get credit because they’re taking my idea?” he joked.

In December 2023, while he was still UCLA’s head coach, Kelly shared at a pre-LA Bowl news conference that college football’s top programs should go “independent” from their conferences and form a 64-team league. He shared his vision in great detail, explaining that teams would split into eight-team geographic divisions, play those seven schools annually, and then rotate annually to play five games against teams from other divisions.

Last week, Kelly reiterated those points to Mandel, lamenting the fact that many Power 4 schools “can’t compete” in recruiting because of their reliance on donors to fund NIL deals for players.

From The Athletic:

“My old school (UCLA) was making $30 million a year (in TV money). Now they’re making $75 million. If you cut $15 milion out to give to your student-athletes, you still doubled what you were making the year before,” Kelly said. “There has to be sensible enough people that can just rationalize what percentage of this goes back to the student-athletes. And if it’s universal among the schools, then you level the playing field.”

CST’s plan does not envision equal revenue sharing, with the Ohio States and Michigans getting a larger cut, just like they do now. Kelly conceded that might be the only way to get the richest programs on board.

“I understand that there are a few schools that would say they like the way the system is right now,” he said. “But I think for the good of the game — if it doesn’t end up that way — I think we’re going to see some schools that can’t compete. What happens to them?”

Kelly cites Notre Dame as a preexisting example of a school that takes football out from under the conference that houses its other sports.

“When people say this (idea) can’t exist — well it already does exist. There is a model for that.”

Kelly, like the CST group, believes a singular league would fetch more TV money than the current, conference-by-conference model. One TV executive interviewed by The Athletic called the idea that there is more untapped money in the market “naive.” Not to mention the conferences all have deals already locked in.

“If you went to the television people with 64 or 70 teams and said this is our league, you’d probably get a better deal than the Big Ten and SEC did separately,” said Kelly. “Now, the television partners have to cooperate. Easy for me to say… But I still think everyone needs to look at the big picture of, what do I want the future of the sport to look like? Or are we going to let it crumble in front of us?”

Kelly’s final question made me laugh (the blow-air-out-of-your-nose-kind).

“Are we going to let (college football) crumble in front of us?” 

It already has, Chip.

Texas and Oklahoma are in the SEC. USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington are in the Big Ten. Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah are in the Big 12. California and Stanford, TWO PACIFIC COAST SCHOOLS, are in the ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE. The College Football Playoff will expand from four teams to 12 teams and soon to 14 teams.

It’s all a mess. 

Will I still consume the mess? 

You bet your sweet bippy I will. 

And so will you.

We’re all suckers.

 FRESHMAN PHENOM. On March 21, Ohio State freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith shed his black stripe in record time, as the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2024 class added scarlet to his helmet after four practices with the Buckeyes.

With Smith’s stellar performances in Ohio State’s Student Appreciation Day 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 scrimmages, it became clear that his quick participation in the Buckeyes’ rite of passage was well-deserved. Over the past week and change, the 6-foot-3, 213-pound pass-catcher has continued to shine in practice, making mind-blowing catches like this one:

When Garrick Hodge sent that video to the Eleven Warriors Slack channel, some staff members seemed impressed...

Slack Conversation after Jeremiah Smith's catch

Me, personally? I had a three-word reaction to the catch. Those three words create the greatest alliteration known to mankind:

*** SHAMELESS PLUG ALERT ***

Still, the best reaction of all came from Zachery Kelly, the Ohio State creative staffer who took an incredible photo of the one-handed catch:

Since Bronny James arrived at USC, the plan appeared to be for him to spend one year in college before declaring for the draft and joining his father, LeBron, in the NBA –perhaps even on the same team.

However, James suffered cardiac arrest at a July workout and spent the next four months on the sideline. He wasn't cleared to practice until November and was then eased back in with a minor role in the Trojans' rotation. USC had a 15-18 record in 2023-24 and didn't reach the NCAA tournament. James averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists across 25 appearances.

James is the No. 9 shooting guard and No. 44 overall prospect in the transfer portal, according to 247Sports. Should he choose to remain in college, Ohio State could be one of the favorites to land him, along with Duquesne – where LeBron's childhood friend, Dru Joyce, coaches – and Oregon, a school that competed with USC and Ohio State for James' services out of high school.

With Roddy Gayle Jr. and Scotty Middleton in the transfer portal, it could be beneficial for Ohio State to pursue James a second time. The Buckeyes have also been connected with several other transfer guards including Jalen Sullinger (Kent State), Matt Allocco (Princeton) and Selton Miguel (USF).

 SONG OF THE DAY. “Tigersharks” - Sumbuck.

 CUT TO THE CHASE. Caitlin Clark and Iowa fall to South Carolina in the national championship... Zach Edey and Purdue will face UConn in the national title game... First an earthquake, now an eclipse. Yankees play ball on the same day as another natural phenomenon... A new declaration in Mexico gives 19 cats roaming the presidential palace food and care fur-ever... The world’s oldest man says the secret to his longevity is luck, plus regular fish and chips.

68 Comments

Ohio State Safety Ja’Had Carter Enters Transfer Portal After One Year with Buckeyes

Ja’Had Carter

Former Ohio State Running Back Ezekiel Elliott Returning to Dallas Cowboys

Ezekiel Elliott
View 68 Comments