Welcome to the Skull Session.
It’s like Christmas morning.
That’s what my high school basketball coach would tell the team to kick off our first practice of preseason camp, and that’s how it feels today.
Ohio State football is back!
Sophomore szn loading pic.twitter.com/on9x3MbSwx
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) July 24, 2025
Have a good Thursday.
FIRST-TEAM ALL-SWOLE. Something, something, something, Ohio State football #content, something, something, something —
Ohio State first-team All-Swole:
— Chase Brown (@chaseabrown__) July 30, 2025
Jeremiah Smith
Arvell Reese
Sonny Styles
Garrett Stover pic.twitter.com/r40Mv2oUN4
Shameless plug, I know, but I had to share that Jeremiah Smith, Arvell Reese, Sonny Styles and Garrett Stover have been in the lab this offseason!
MARK YOUR CALENDARS. Eleven Warriors will be at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center a lot in the next three weeks. What’s a lot mean? Oh, just 13 times between Thursday and Aug. 21. Below is a peek behind the curtain at our media schedule for preseason camp. Mark your calendars to know what #content to expect from 11W during our baker’s dozen visits.
Full Practices
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
Interviews
- Thursday - Ryan Day
- Friday - Brian Hartline and Matt Patricia
- Tuesday - Day, Billy Fessler and the quarterbacks
- Wednesday - James Laurinaitis and the linebackers
- Aug. 8 - Carlos Locklyn and the running backs
- Aug. 11 - Day
- Aug. 12 - Tyler Bowen and the offensive linemen
- Aug. 14 - Larry Johnson and the defensive linemen
- Aug. 18 - Day, Hartline and Patricia
- Aug. 19 - Tim Walton, Matt Guerrieri and the defensive backs
- Aug. 21 - Keenan Bailey and the tight ends, the specialists
Now, that's a lot of coverage!
“THEY TAKE THIS THING TOO SERIOUSLY.” Now for the section you’ve all been waiting for: ESPN’s Dan Wetzel thinks Ohio State takes The Game… too seriously? His questionable take came amid an appearance on The College GameDay Podcast with Rece Davis.
“The Michigan thing still hangs over them, for sure,” Davis said of Ohio State, kicking off the conversation. “I do think there’s probably a pretty good lesson for this era of college football. You do want to win those rivalry games. They are terribly important to people, and they should be. They’re important to all of the fans, to television, all of those things. It’s the DNA. It’s the fabric of the sport. … With that being stated in the court, stipulating the importance of that, it was a pretty good lesson last year that the sky doesn’t fall no matter which individual game you lose, no matter how catastrophic.
“The number of people who called into various radio shows immediately after the Michigan game and prior to the first playoff game against Tennessee called and said, ‘I don’t care about the playoff. I don’t care if we win the national championship. I would rather go 1-11 and beat that school up north.’ I’ll bet that’s not how they really felt that night after they beat Notre Dame and raised the (CFP) trophy.
“I don’t mean to diminish Michigan’s accomplishment, nor do I mean to diminish the importance of winning that game. You need to beat your rivals. That’s part of the deal in college football, but you can’t make it everything.”
Wetzel agreed. But then he took it a step further.
“They take this thing too seriously. The team up north. We won’t say Michigan, and crossing out the M’s on campus. If you walk around Ohio State’s campus the week of the Michigan game, it is crazy,” Wetzel said. “Ryan Day, last year before this game, said losing to Michigan — and I’m paraphrasing — was as painful as the death of his father. Like, this thing needed to be relaxed. I think it just became overwhelming of late.
“And I think they all talk like, ‘We can’t lose.’ They're trying to impress, they’re trying to be more hardcore than the most hardcore fan. … I think Michigan has had a better understanding of it. They’re not afraid to say the word Ohio. It’s okay, right? They take it very seriously. They want to win, but I don’t think anybody was just going to, you know, pass out if they didn’t do it. So I thought the intensity of that game had gotten overwhelming (for the Buckeyes), and that’s probably why they lost the game.”
Hm. I’m sure Wetzel’s remarks will be well-received in the comments section, and there will be no need for this bucket of popcorn next to me.
INTEL FROM AUSTIN. Former Ohio State defensive tackle Hero Kanu has established himself as a leader in Texas’ locker room.
“We have a great culture,” Texas co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Johnny Nansen told reporters this week. “We have great players that are willing to help each other out. I think you’ve seen Hero — he’s really become one of our main staples, one of our leaders and he’s really been helping those guys adjust to coming to Texas and what the expectations are. It’s been really cool to see.”
Kanu transferred to Texas in January following Ohio State’s win over Notre Dame in the national championship game. His move came four days before the Longhorns hired former Buckeye assistant defensive line coach LaAllan Clark as an outside linebackers coach.
Ohio State transfer Hero Kanu becoming one of #Texas' leaders: 'He's obsessed with the process'https://t.co/oNweOvB1ww #HookEm pic.twitter.com/yoS8uLcgpQ
— Hank South (@HankSouth247) July 30, 2025
In three seasons at Ohio State, Kanu made 29 appearances and collected 14 tackles, one tackle for loss and one sack as a reserve defensive tackle. With Tyleik Williams and Ty Hamilton headed to the NFL in 2025, the Geltendorf, Germany, native would have been one of the Buckeyes’ top three defensive tackles this fall alongside Kayden McDonald and Eddrick Houston.
Instead, he’ll face off against his former team in the 2025 season opener.
“The thing I love about Hero is he’s very self-aware. He’s obsessed with the process,” Texas defensive line coach Kenny Baker said. “He’s got tremendous leadership qualities and traits. And we’ve got a lot of guys, but he’s kind of taken some of that natural leadership role. I think that’s just the cloth he’s been cut from. He was like that at the last school, from what I know. But he’s been great. He’s coachable. He wants to do well. He asks me all the time. ‘Bake, what can I work on? What can I work on?’ He loves those things. He came here for a reason — to better himself and win at an elite level.”
I like Hero, and I'll root for him at Texas — except on Aug. 30, and potential College Football Playoff matchups between the Buckeyes and Longhorns, of course.
Which reminds me...
SONG OF THE DAY. "Universal Sound" - Tyler Childers.
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