Welcome to the Skull Session.
Word of the Day: Heartbreak.
final.@betwayusa | #LetEmKnow
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) May 7, 2025
Have a good Wednesday.
UNDER THE CLOUD. Ohhhhhh, so Jim Knowles was Art Howe.
Not the real Art Howe – the "Moneyball" version of Art Howe.
Knowles' request for a new deal before the national championship game was the equivalent of Howe’s “I can’t manage this team on a one-year contract.” Day’s response – or what I assume was Day’s response – of “Let’s win a title first,” mirrored that of Billy Beane’s “I got to put a team on the field. After that, I’ll take a good, long look at your contract.”
Whatever Day said, Knowles didn’t appreciate it. He helped Ohio State beat Notre Dame in Atlanta, but he contacted James Franklin two days later, seeking an offer to become Penn State’s next defensive coordinator.
“Ohio State hasn’t come forward with a deal, and it’s like, ‘OK, if I’m going to act on this or at least explore it, I have got to make that call,” Knowles told ESPN’s Heather Dinich.
Jim Knowles tells ESPN he would not have explored other options if Ohio State offered him a contract extension before the national championship game. https://t.co/yctZpMnKeJ
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) May 6, 2025
Despite Knowles pursuing offers from Penn State – and potentially other schools – he told Dinich Ohio State made the situation “awkward” when it asked him not to come to the program’s championship celebration in the Horseshoe on Jan. 26.
“Maybe I’ll take less because Ohio State’s a great place,” Knowles said. “But then they asked me not to come to the parade. So then you’re like, ‘OK, honestly, the writing is on the wall.’ Now it becomes something. It’s always something in the outside world, but now it’s become something here, too. I hadn’t made any decisions, but you just kind of feel like – I wouldn’t say I’m not wanted here – but you just feel like, OK, now it’s gotten awkward.”
Brother, you wrote on the wall!
You made it become something!
You made it awkward!
It’s clear Ohio State wanted Knowles to stick around, considering it offered the 60-year-old a $2.75 million annual salary. But we learned Knowles’ heart was elsewhere, as he accepted a $3.1 million annual salary at Penn State – which, as a reminder, was the deal he pursued.
Man, oh, man.
This article has me in fumes.
I cannot wait for Nov. 1. I cannot wait!
“VERY, VERY, VERY SUCCESSFUL.” An All-American and national champion at Ohio State, Donovan Jackson will continue his decorated football career with the Minnesota Vikings, who selected him with the No. 24 overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft.
This week, The Athletic’s Alec Lewis interviewed some of Jackson’s former coaches to discover what kind of ROI the Minnesota franchise will get from their selection.
It wasn’t just that they wanted the Minnesota Vikings to take an interior offensive lineman. They also had a buddy who would not stop praising the Ohio State big man. Their buddy lives in Houston. His name is Steve Leisz. He is a Minnesota native, and he was worth listening to. Why? He was the football coach at Episcopal High, one of the most renowned programs in the country.
Several years ago, Leisz told his friends about wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, who became a first-round pick for the Miami Dolphins. He also raved about Walker Little, now the starting left tackle for the Jacksonville Jaguars. He coached both of those players. Personal experience fueled his intel. He spoke about Jackson with similar reverence.
Jackson came off the board earlier than some people expected. Leisz was not one of them, because he knew other teams had an interest in his former standout, including the Houston Texans (who had the No. 25 overall pick) and the Cleveland Browns (who had the No. 33 and No. 36 overall picks). Neither was Ohio State strength coach Mick Marotti.
Ask former coaches about Jackson, and they sound like they’re trying to find as many ways as possible to combine the following five words: elite, competitor, talented, human and skill.
“Donovan is every adjective you can think a Big Ten offensive lineman should be,” said Mickey Marotti, the director of sports performance at Ohio State.
Oh, and former Ohio State graduate assistant Mike Sollenne?
Neither was he.
After Jackson made a miraculous transition from left guard to left tackle, Sollenne knew NFL teams would love him.
This is the offensive line equivalent of going from bowling with bumpers to bowling without them … on a slab of ice. There are no safety nets on either side. The speed increases exponentially. Throughout the week, the defensive coaches lined up twitchy linebackers Arvell Reese and C.J. Hicks across from Jackson to help him feel the pace. Carter bested him that weekend, but Jackson didn’t spiral. If anything, exposure to one of the elite edges gave him more confidence to pass set closer to the rusher, decreasing the space the rusher had to use his entire toolkit.
Jackson didn’t allow a sack over the season’s final eight games. He didn’t give up a QB hit in the last four games of the season against Tennessee, Oregon, Texas and Notre Dame. Jackson’s adjustment reminded Drevno of Alijah Vera-Tucker, whom Drevno coached at USC, and who has become a stellar guard for the New York Jets.
“I think it ultimately made him a s—load of money,” Sollenne said. “But I knew from first being around him years earlier: He’s going to be very, very, very successful.”
I agree!
A TRIP TO VALUE TOWN. This week, NFL.com’s Chad Reuter named his top 16 Day 3 picks who could compete for starter snaps as rookies. Three of those Day 3 picks were Buckeyes: The Arizona Cardinals’ Cody Simon, the Carolina Panthers’ Lathan Ransom and the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Jack Sawyer.
No. 3 - Cody Simon
Drafted: Round 4, Pick 115
Kyzir White's contract ran out and he remains unsigned, creating an opening in the Cardinals' linebacker corps. Simon can drop into coverage effectively and looks like he's shot out of a cannon when blitzing in the A-gap or coming off the edge. I suspect he'll be a factor on special teams and should be lining up with the 1s at some point in the season, if not for the opener.
No. 13 - Lathan Ransom
Drafted: Round 4, Pick 122
Demani Richardson played well enough as an undrafted rookie free agent last season to have the edge over Ransom for a starting job. That said, I won't dismiss the chance of Ransom, who played 57 games over five seasons at Ohio State, from winning the role in training camp. The Panthers also might need him to step in if either Richardson or free-agent acquisition Tre'von Moehrig miss time.
No. 15 - Jack Sawyer
Drafted: Round 4, Pick 123
Sawyer was excellent value in the fourth round, despite not being the twitchiest edge rusher in the draft. He may have been seen as a long-term acquisition with All-Pro T.J. Watt entering a contract year, but there's always a chance he sees more snaps than expected with Watt playing through injuries at times and Alex Highsmith missing six games in 2024 with a sprained ankle.
Last season, 11 of 157 Day 3 selections started eight or more games. It’d be cool to see Simon, Ransom and Sawyer among that group in 2025 – Ty Hamilton, Jordan Hancock, Denzel Burke and Will Howard, too!
OHIO'S FINEST. From calling out Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin to praising The Brotherhood, Jermaine Mathews Jr. has become one of the Skull Session's main characters over the past nine months because of his social media presence.
Here is yet another section on Matthews, who announced this week that he will host his second annual free youth football camp at Cincinnati's Winton Woods High School this summer.
Round 2 bring those young boys out!!! pic.twitter.com/EA67Hl5KKJ
— Jermaine Mathews Jr (@Jr2Maine) May 5, 2025
He's a man of the people!
You love to see it.
SONG OF THE DAY. "Bad Dreams" - Teddy Swims.
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