Welcome to the Skull Session.
Three top 10 Heisman finalists?
Ohio State has three players in the top 10 of this years Heisman Trophy vote no other school has more than one as Jeremiah Smith finishes sixth and Caleb Downs finishes ninth. https://t.co/5IqPN9cEHs
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) December 11, 2025
Make it count, Buckeyes!
Have a good Friday.
GOOD OL’ MICHIGAN MEN. I’ve been thinking a lot about this fact from Justin Spiro over the past 24 to 36 hours: Since Jim Harbaugh became Michigan’s head football coach in 2015, the Wolverines have had 11 staffers either arrested (seven) or banned from the sport (four). Couldn’t be Ohio State!
“WE HAVE TO KEEP OUR EDGE.” After Ohio State learned it would be the No. 2 seed in the College Football Playoff on Sunday, 10TV's Dom Tiberi interviewed Ryan Day to gain perspective on the Buckeyes' loss to the Hoosiers and how the program plans to bounce back in the playoff.
Day didn’t hold back on what led to Ohio State’s defeat, the lessons the Buckeyes learned and how his players can regain their edge before facing either Texas A&M or Miami in the Cotton Bowl.
“We didn’t get it done,” Day said of the Big Ten Championship Game. “We can take a look at all the different plays that went on (in the red zone), the singular plays, but it’s the combination of everything that went on. We got to take a hard look at it and figure out why that didn’t happen. There’s a lot that goes into it. We got to put our guys in a situation to be successful. And we have good enough players, so somewhere along the line we came up short, and that’s what hurts when you come off a game like this.”
Before the UCLA game, Day said, “The eyes lead to the soul.” When he told Tiberi, “We have good enough players,” his eyes made it clear how frustrated he was that Ohio State didn’t beat Indiana — whether because the staff didn’t put the players in the right position or because execution faltered on the field.
As it turns out, you don’t need Day’s eyes to read him. He’ll make his frustration known with his words, too.
“Waking up (on Sunday) — I can’t even say wake up, I didn’t even sleep last night, I’m so pissed off about the game,” Day said. “But that’s part of it. You got to give it about 24 to 48 hours, take your medicine and move on. Not easy to do, but yeah, we got to take care of business, win the first game and then we’ll go from there.”
I could end the section on a good note there, but let’s end it on a great one instead. Day doesn’t care if Ohio State faces Texas A&M or Miami in the CFP quarterfinals or which team the Buckeyes could draw down the road. He said his players believe the Buckeyes can beat anyone in the country when they’re at their best.
“Our guys have confidence we can play with anybody, beat anybody in the country. That’s not the issue,” Day said. “What we got to do is regroup and have a great month where we’re keeping our edge. I think that’s really important. When you look at the teams last year who had the bye, they kind of went into that game and struggled a little bit. That was for a couple of different reasons, but we look at that as almost motivation to make sure that we’re practicing at a high level to keep our edge. We have to keep our edge.”
“WE REALLY WANTED CHRIS.” Ryan Day also appeared on 97.1 The Fan’s The Beat this week to discuss Ohio State’s 2026 recruiting class with Jeremy Birmingham. Amid a 30-minute conversation about the Buckeyes’ 27 signees, Day shared his perspective on Ohio State signing five-star wide receiver Chris Henry Jr. despite Brian Hartline leaving for USF.
“We really wanted Chris,” Day said. “We think he is a tremendous talent. He’s been committed for a long time. But a lot of other people wanted him too. When you go through your whole recruiting process — he committed at a young age and had been committed for a long time — and then all of a sudden the receivers coach that you built a strong relationship with has an opportunity to be a head coach and on signing day it gets announced, that’s a lot to process. I felt for Chris because now there’s a lot of noise out there, a lot of confusion, and to his credit, he took a step back and said, ‘Let me just take a deep breath on this. Let me not make an emotional decision. Let me just kind of process it.’ And with his family, he did that.
“We let him know that nothing’s changed here other than the fact that we’re gonna go try to find the best coach in America to go coach him that we can — just like we’ve done before for other coaching changes. And that everything else is still in place and all the people here are gonna take care of you. But we also gave him space, too, and didn’t try to inundate him because this is his decision. And in the end, he was able to process it all, and I think he showed a lot of maturity in just saying, ‘Alright, this is a lot to handle right now. I’m gonna kind of get my thoughts together and make sure that I’m doing the right thing.’ We were obviously excited when he decided to recommit.”
Birmingham noted that Henry’s family shared a clip of the moment on social media.
Chris Henry Jr's call with Ryan Day to inform him that he will be signing with Ohio State pic.twitter.com/FTithQBf7d
— Henry Legacy (@TheHenryLegacy_) December 5, 2025
When Birmingham asked Day whether he thought Henry was about to flip, the head coach laughed, explaining that calls starting with a prospect thanking you for recruiting them usually don’t end well. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case here.
“I did, in my heart, feel like this was the right place for him,” Day said. “I feel like we have a great situation for him to come in as a freshman. There can’t be a better situation in the country with Julian coming back, Jeremiah on the other side and what we have coming back. So, I think, in his mind, he knew in terms of the development and Mick (Marotti) and everything that we’re doing — it’s a little bit of a leap because we don’t have a wide receiver coach named during this time, and we’ll have to work to make sure that we get that solidified. But in the end, obviously, we were very, very excited when he recommitted to us and was gonna sign that day.”
Day added, “That’s kind of the drama of signing day. That is exciting when you get news like that. I didn’t say anything because they told me not to, but when McAfee was on throughout the Woody you could hear people screaming down the hallway, so that was a cool experience — while we were trying to get ready for third down and everything else against Indiana that week.”
BEAT THE CLOCK. You all know that the latest drop from Eleven Warriors Dry Goods is loaded with cool shirts. What you may not know is that everything — yes, everything — at Eleven Warriors Dry Goods is 20% off through Friday, Dec. 12 at 11:59 p.m.
Beat The Clock Sale
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) December 10, 2025
Last-minute shopper? Us too.
Take 20% off and finish your Christmas shopping strong.
Valid through 12.12 at 11:59pm EST. Auto-applied at checkout. https://t.co/8h3ZzlqSpI pic.twitter.com/IBfLBoUotk
Here are the shirts I recommend:
- That’s Ohio’s Moon Tee — Ohio owns the dang moon.
- Order Restored Tee — The streak is dead. The rivalry is right again.
- Hold This L Tee — Sharp, confident, unapologetic. Victory in fabric form.
- Fun Is Kicking Ass Tee — Fun is kicking ass — especially in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
- They Prayed For Snow Tee — A cold reminder: nothing slows a Buckeye down.
- Silver Bullets Tee — They're world famous for a reason.
- We Broke the U Tee — Perfect for your wardrobe if Ohio State meets Miami in the CFP quarterfinals. You could flex it before, during and after kickoff!
Every tee is designed and printed in Columbus, built to last, and tailored for fans who carry the legacy forward. There’s also polos, hats, barware and stickers available! No matter where you rep them, these items speak louder than any chant.
Beat the clock! Grab your gear before 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 12 for 20% off!
BEFORE I GO… Fernando Mendoza’s mom, Elsa, wrote him a letter that ran in The Players’ Tribune this week. It moved me — deeply. I hope you feel the same. Read it sometime today, or this weekend, for a reminder that sports are about so much more than wins and losses, championships and trophies:
Hello, this is Fernandos mom, Elsa! What a joy it is to have him as a son.
— The Players Tribune (@PlayersTribune) December 11, 2025
Fernando I wrote you this with all my love. https://t.co/TNLn3uP2Gb
NEW DUBCAST. The final Eleven Dubcast of the week brings back the show's founder and expert Wolverines hater Johnny Ginter to discuss the disastrous end of Sherrone Moore’s tenure in Ann Arbor and what the future holds for Michigan's football program.
SONG OF THE DAY. "Hey Jude" - The Beatles.
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