Welcome to the Skull Session.
I missed you all.
I know you all missed me.
Time to caffeinate and dominate.
PAID TIME OFF. A man takes a long weekend off, and all the Ohio State news floods in. When I opened Slack and X on Tuesday, I felt like Captain America in Times Square at the end of "The First Avenger," spinning in circles as I tried to consume the wave of #content, which included, but was not limited to:
1. Ohio State offering Marvin Harrison Jr.’s younger brother, Jett.
Ohio State offered 2028 Philadelphia St. Joseph's (Pennsylvania) wide receiver Jett Harrison on Sunday, the younger brother of Marvin Harrison Jr. https://t.co/F7W8js6Foh
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) May 12, 2025
Other coaches and schools: This is getting out of hand! Now there are two of them!
2. Ross Bjork being open to selling naming rights to The Game.
Improving the gameday atmosphere at both the Shoe and the Schott is a point of emphasis for Ross Bjork entering his second year as Ohio States athletic director. https://t.co/49hNyRf1oy
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) May 10, 2025
Everything has a price in the current college football landscape.
3. Four-star cornerback Jordan Thomas committing to Ohio State.
#BOOM Four-star 2026 New Jersey cornerback Jordan Thomas commits to Ohio State, giving Tim Walton another talented playmaker in the secondary. https://t.co/jJAeoCUIi3
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) May 12, 2025
Tim Walton is the OG and the MVP.
4. FOX announcing it will televise Ohio State vs. Texas – possibly (read: probably) at noon.
Ohio States season opener against Texas and rivalry game against Michigan will be noon games on FOX. https://t.co/a7661OVypW
h— Eleven Warriors (@11W) May 12, 2025
This is outrageous! It’s unfair!
Yes, that’s two Star Wars prequel references and two Marvel Cinematic Universe references to this point. It’s possible (read: probable) that there will be more in this Skull Session.
Other news: Ohio State lost to Notre Dame in the NCAA tournament, Kevin McGuff and Kyle Snyder made choices that – in no uncertain terms – were deplorable (each for their own reasons), and Santonio Holmes entered the college coaching ranks at Central State.
All of that (and more) happened amid a long weekend!
The #content runneth over!
WE GOT THE GUY. In an appearance on the “Footbahlin’” podcast with Ben Roethlisberger last week, Will Howard and Jack Sawyer discussed the quarterback dynamics at Ohio State, particularly what it looked like for the Buckeyes to add Will Howard to their roster before the 2024 season.
“I decided to come back. I wasn’t ready to go. I wanted to finish off the way we were able to last year," Sawyer said. "But Kyle (McCord) had just got in the portal, and I was like, ‘What are we gonna do at quarterback? We only got a couple of young guys who haven’t really played at all, no experience. Like, what are we gonna do there?’ And Coach (Ryan) Day kind of smiled and was like, ‘We got the guy.’ I was like, ‘Who?’ And he was like, ‘I can’t really say anything yet, but, you know —”
“Still waiting for that check to clear,” Roethlisberger interrupted, which made the room (and me) laugh.
“(Coach Day said), ‘I think we’re gonna get Will Howard,’ and so I was like, ‘Oh, wow, the guy from K-State? … No s—,’” Sawyer continued. “He was the guy I was watching a year before, rooting for him in the Big 12 championship. He comes in and the rest is history.”
Later in the podcast, Roethlisberger asked Sawyer to share his first impression of Howard at Ohio State. “Was it the dude you saw on TV, or was it, ‘He looks like a country club swimmer’?"
Sawyer belly laughed. Howard did, too.
“What’s funny about that is, I remember we were all pumped up, and we see him – and the first day you (Howard) were there, it was like winter workouts,” Sawyer said. “He’s out there throwing with some of the guys and we go out there and we’re looking and it’s like, ‘OK, this guy is huge. He can sling it around.’ Going into spring ball, we were like, ‘Man, I want to see how tough this guy is. Is this guy really that gritty dude that we see on film? Is he really going to be like that? A guy that can will us to victory, take a couple of shots, like you (Roethlisberger) used to do back in the day, hang in the pocket, get hit and and get back up like nothing is bothering him?
“So, that first spring practice, I told JT (Tuimoloau), I was like, ‘Hey, we got to test him a little bit.’ … I hit him a few times. He’d release the ball, and I came free, and even if the ball had been gone for a couple of seconds, I would give him a shoulder check. The first couple of times, a new guy, he kind of lets it go, but I could tell he was kind of getting pissed off. Finally, this one time during a blitz pickup period, he throws a slant, and I’m coming up the middle on one of our little stunts. He throws it, and I give him a little check to the chest and chin area, and he kind of goes back and shoves me and is like, ‘What the hell are you doing, man? Knock that s— off.’ I was like, ‘Finally! I’ve been waiting for you to do something like that for the past two weeks! Finally!’ That’s when we knew, ‘OK, we got the guy. We got the guy.’”
Last season, Howard completed 73 percent of his passes for 4,010 yards, 35 touchdowns and 10 interceptions while adding 226 yards and seven scores on the ground. Oh, and when the lights shined brightest in the College Football Playoff, Howard completed 75.2 percent of his passes for 1,150 yards, eight touchdowns and two interceptions while leading the Buckeyes to victories over Tennessee, Oregon, Texas and Notre Dame to win a national championship.
So, yes, Ohio State got its guy – the guy, who will be remembered forever in Columbus as a Buckeye legend.
“I HAD A LITTLE SOFT SPOT.” A Downingtown, Pennsylvania, native, Will Howard has rooted for the Pittsburgh Steelers for as long as he can remember. That said, following an appearance on Roethlisberger's podcast and a couple of rookie OTA practices, Howard said he secretly always wanted the Steelers to draft him in 2025.
“I had a little soft spot for Pittsburgh,” Howard told reporters last week. “I was hoping in my heart that they’d pick me.”
“It’s exciting to be out here,” Howard continued. “It’s been my dream my whole life to be an NFL quarterback. Here we are. I’m trying to enjoy it as much as I can.”
According to The Athletic’s Mike DeFabo, Howard has become a “fan favorite” in his short tenure with the Steelers. Howard’s position and Pittsburgh’s unsettled quarterback situation contribute to that, as does Howard’s talent on the field and charisma off of it. DeFabo wrote last week that Howard and Sawyer received “a warm reception” when both Buckeyes were shown on the big screen during a Pirates game. “The question is,” DeFabo wrote, “whether he’ll get the same reception just down the street at Acrisure Stadium this year.”
While multiple outlets have reported the Steelers could still sign future-Pro-Football-Hall-of-Famer-but-also-41-year-old-and-post-Achilles-tear Aaron Rodgers, the veteran quarterback could skip OTAs or decide not to sign with the team. Therefore, Howard could work his way up the depth chart quickly this summer.
Teammates reunited @OhioStateFB @whoward_ | @jacksawyer33 pic.twitter.com/S2TxJwMerE
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) May 11, 2025
“I’m just treating it like any other day,” Howard said when asked about the potential for the Steelers to sign Rodgers. “I want to come in here. I want to learn. I want to get better. That’s how I’m looking at this. Who knows what happens? I’m not worried about that. I’m just worried about myself and learning and getting better throughout the process.”
Howard added, as we all came to know during his Ohio State tenure, that he will have a chip on his shoulder no matter what.
“That’s kind of the story of my life. To be in the NFL, you’re always fighting for a job, no matter what. If you’re not on your game one day, you can be gone. It’s a business. The things I went through, I learned to push through adversity and (bounce) back from bad things. I learned so much, and that gave me a pretty hard head. I’ve got a chip on my shoulder, and I’m just glad to be there.”
FAMILY FEUD. Ohio State men's basketball walk-on guard Braylen Nash and his family appeared on the game show "Family Feud" this week. While there were plenty of memorable moments from the family's appearance, this one stands out above the rest:
That and more made for an entertaining episode of Family Feud. Make sure to check it out sometime soon, as it was full of moments you won't want to miss featuring the Ohio State guard and his family.
SONG OF THE DAY. "Family Feud" - FINNEAS.
CUT TO THE CHASE. New Zealand’s unofficial fruit is the feijoa, not the kiwi... Liam and Olivia dominate with top baby names for a sixth year in a row... Leo XIV’s Chicago roots unleash spate of holy humor... Paul Pierce says he walked 20 miles to work in a robe as punishment for guaranteeing a Celtics’ win... Yes, New Zealand still has more sheep than people. But humans are catching up.
