Buckeye Coaches Chat with the Media 2 Weeks Out from Spring Game
3/26/2024 12:50:00 PM | Football
On the future of the tight ends
"I think everyone needs to step up: Gee, Pat, Will, everyone. I don't know if you're just going to replace a guy like Cade. What Cade did was special, but that was just one player. I think about the unit. The unit's needs to be the best tight end unit in the conference, best in the country. That's Ohio State. That's why they came here. To be the best."
On leadership on the team
"The leaders drive the culture. Whether that be Gee, or whether it be Pat who's been here for a long time and played a lot of football. Or whether it be Will who can come in and say, 'no, this is what it should look like,' I want those guys to take it run and with it. On Saturdays I'm in the box so it needs to come from them. My job as a coach is to make them hear things they don't want to hear and push them to do things they don't want to do. So I'm certainly going to do that at times and I'll keep doing it, but they've done a great job of driving the culture."
On his future at Ohio State and his conversations with recruits
"All I can do is tell them the truth. That's the biggest thing right? Look them in the eye and say, 'this is what I'm going to do.' and that question is asked many times every year. When I make the decision on what I'm going to do I'll tell them. I'm not going to recruit a guy and bring him here and then take off. That's just not part of my DNA. That's not my character. It's more than just words. Really believing in a principle of who you are as a coach. I'm not chasing money. I'm not chasing anything. I'm chasing greatness with my players."
On the future of the players who returned to the team
"I think the biggest thing they're doing is chasing greatness right now. To be the best player they can be in college football. I think that's what they want. Win a national championship and beating the team up north those are all great goals for those guys to chase. I think that's one of the reasons they came back. You go into the NFL and you might think you're ready, but you got four years under your belt and you got your toolbox ready to go. You have a chance to elevate your game when you walk into that next level. I think that's what those guys looked at 'how can I get better, coach?' and every day we're working on the small pieces to make the elite players."
