It is good to be the defending national champions. Ohio State is coming off its second national title of the College Football Playoff era, the first under head coach Ryan Day. While so much of last year's team is off to the NFL, few programs recruit and develop at the level the Buckeyes do under Day's watch. Even with all that attrition, I have Ohio State comfortably in the playoff as a lock for next year.
With the weather starting to change across the country, spring practice is upon us. While Ohio State is not going to have a traditional spring game this year, the Buckeyes have plenty of holes to fill if they want to repeat as national champions. Not only must they replace both coordinators of note, but they also have to figure out who their next starting quarterback will be. They also must keep on recruiting.
So with it being the heart of the college football offseason, I decided it would be a good time to give a little update or two regarding the great sport on the planet's defending national champions. We have an NFL legend's son potentially coming to Columbus. Day provided an update or two on the Matt Patricia hire at defensive coordinator. He also gave us a glimpse into the budding quarterback battle.
Let's start this off by pulling rabbits out of our heads with Jason Witten's son being so sought after.
Ohio State football news: Buckeyes recruiting Jason Witten's son
On today's episode of feeling super old, guess who the Buckeyes are looking heavily at in the recruiting department for the 2027 class? You guessed it! That would be Dallas Cowboys legendary tight end Jason Witten's son! Cooper Witten is making a slew of spring visits, including coming to Columbus on March 21. Witten is a four-star recruit and the No. 1 safety in the 247Sports Composite.
He may hail from Texas where his father starred for the Cowboys for well over a decade. Keep in mind that Jason Witten played his college football for traditional power Tennessee. That could be the team to beat for his services, but keep in mind that Jason Witten was a far better pro than he was as a tight end in the SEC. Regardless, Ohio State has to to evaluate Witten regardless of his great NFL pedigree.
The good news for the Buckeyes is they have regularly struck gold by landing players from famous families. Marvin Harrison Jr.'s father starred collegiately at Syracuse. Jeremiah Smith's cousin quarterbacked West Virginia and is now the starting quartebrack for Chip Kelly's new team. Overall, something interesting to monitor, but it should be noted that Witten is only a class of 2027 recruit.
What this may really come down to is how well The Wittens feel Cooper can play for Matt Patricia.
Ohio State football news: Matt Patricia is a fantastic hire, per Ryan Day
With Ohio State spring practice about to start, Ryan Day met with the media last week to address some hard-hitting topics. One of the biggest questions the media had for Day was the hiring of Matt Patricia as defensive coordinator. While Patricia failed miserably as the former head coach of the Detroit Lions, he was an important piece on Bill Belichick's New England Patriots coaching staffs.
Day mentioned that Ohio was "very thorough about how [they] went about the process", deeming Patricia "the right fit" for the job. He cited that the defense will look different than how it was under Patricia's predecessor Jim Knowles, but not a complete departure from what he ran the last few years. Day also cited that Patricia's NFL experience is a huge boost to what Ohio State wants to do.
While Patricia may have had a sexual assault allegation from way back in 1996, Day "[feels] really good about the hire." Again, he said this process was very thorough, as replacing Knowles was never going to be easy. Day may value Patricia's NFL experience, but it has been a very long time since he was a college football coach. We are talking about Patricia being at Syracuse in the very early 2000s.
Here is the entire press conference ahead of spring practice featuring Day over on Eleven Warriors.
Ohio State football news: Where things stand on the quarterback battle
Now, the moment you have all been waiting for. Day did not give the biggest update on the brewing Ohio State quarterback battle between Julian Sayin, Lincoln Kienholz and Tavien St. Clair, but he did provide some clarity on it. "They're young. We need them to be tough. We need them to be a leader. Long way to go on it. Don't have any evaluation on it now. Gonna be a big spring for those guys."
The big key is that he will give each quarterback plenty of reps to show what they can do and make an impact in Brian Hartline's offense. Sayin is arguably the most talented. Kienholz has been with the program the longest. St. Clair is a promising true freshman from just down the road. I am sure we will have even more clarity after how spring practice goes. I actually love this for the Ohio State program.
While I was reticent of giving St. Clair a fair shot because of his youthfulness and experience having just come up from high school, Day made it a point to say none of these guys have very much experiences between the three of them. Sayin may inevitably win out, but whoever has the most control of the offense will lead the Buckeyes out of the tunnel in Week 1. It could be any one of them.
Even if Sayin were to separate from the pack, Ohio State will keep quite to keep Kienholz from leaving.