Ryan Day Quick Hitters from Weekly Radio Show

Buckeyes' head coach Ryan Day shares his thoughts on how the team is preparing and what they are are focused on with the season approaching. Read more.

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day spent his typical one hour session with Paul Keels and Jim Lachey on Thursday afternoon on the Ohio State Learfield IMG Sports Network. Here are some of the things that Day chatted about as the Buckeyes prepare to put pads on next week and kick off the season one month from today.

• Day says it's definitely less strange this week knowing they're playing … "I watched less of the other college football games and was watching more film on our opponents."
• Regarding Nebraska ... right into conference play, strange last couple months, only 3 weeks in pads leading up to the game … this isn't training camp, guys are in school and rolling … we are planning accordingly, Scott Frost is a great coach … I think he feels good about his team coming back … we need to have our pads down and play tough against them.
• On Ohio State's practice time … we have to be efficient for sure, can't puts pads on until next Wednesday … it's been a challenge to play football without pads since last fall … we are running a lot and our aerobic shape is good, but we need to get physical soon.
• On working with the linemen … "can't have guys on the ground, that's when injuries happen … but its not football without pads, gotta keep working through it … having veteran guys up front will help." 
• Film study … "same approach as usual, but we can’t coach the physicality of both sides from Larry (Johnson) and Stud (Greg Studrawa) just by watching film, those guys are itching to go … its all good though, guys just want to compete."
• "Great practice week, guys are getting after it, great energy and spirit … when something is taken away from you, you appreciate it a little bit more." 
• On the position groups he’s most anxious to see … "all of them will be fun to watch, guys in the secondary with experience and some younger guys too who will challenge for time … we have vets in the linebacking crew ... up front, we have to replace Davon (Hamilton) and Chase (Young), but our D-Line is strong again this year … Jonah Jackson and Brandon Bowen both gone on the O-Line but we have three good guys back … tight ends group is totally back, looking forward to seeing our running back depth, young receivers will be fun ... it's just a great group. We’ll see when the pads get on, but a lot of talent there."
• Wyatt Davis and Shaun Wade’s leadership … "both captains, both a lot of respect, great players … our leadership is terrific, some of the best I’ve been around … love the way they’ve handled their business off the field."
• D-Line talent has helped the O-Line guys step up … "we’d watch Chase and Davon out there last year – if you can block Chase, you can probably block anyone in the country … we have good depth there this year."
• Thayer Munford benefited from working against Chase last year … he's left tackle, who’s going to be the right tackle? "Nick Petit-Freire has most experience, great offseason, got stronger and bigger, happy with where he’s at … Dawand has had a great offseason, he’s got a ton of ability … and Paris Johnson is young, serious about his work and very talented."
• Addressing use of 12 personnel (1 running back, 2 tight ends) … "our depth is strong there … roughly 30% of that personnel group last year … one of the strengths of great college coaching is finding out what fits your personnel … hard to know what it is without pads on though."
• On the loaded WR group … "those guys push each other to be better … ton of talent there, iron sharpens iron."
• Question on defending Nebraska QB Adrian Martinez … "I recruited him here, I have a lot of respect for him as a person and a player … injury his senior year in high school, boy he’s come out and had a great college career, strong and good leader … he’s just rock solid … now hes a vet … played a lot of snaps in this conference, this won’t be too big for him and he’s played against us a couple years."
• OSU has been so good at running tempo offense the last couple years. How fast would you like to run a play? "Highest tempo, roughly 14-15 seconds is great … other styles and tempos we get into depends on where we are in the game, rhythm of the offense, who’s on the field, etc. You have to get first downs too or you’ll get out of whack too … lots of times you decide before the game how fast you wanna play and then try to adjust. If we go too fast, we don’t change the play and limit our ability to call audibles."
• On aggressive nature ... "You have to pick your spots, but we try to be as aggressive as we can from the minute we touch the ball … we are trying to score points, we all have that mentality … we're going to play fast and physical."
• "Defending tempo is about getting lined up – Nebraska will do that well … you count on that as a tempo team to do it … you gotta be in good shape, communicate well and get the play in quickly … our D sees that every day against us so that helps … can't really go tempo without getting any first downs, so stopping them quickly is our goal."
• "Linebackers help us get set … you listen to the guys communicate … good exp. LBs communicate ALL THE TIME … Tuf (Borland), Pete (Werner), Baron (Browning) and Justin Hilliard are constantly talking and they’re on top of their game when you hear them almost over-communicating."
• Haskell Garrett update ... "He’s doing well all things considered … tough, scary moment for all of us … on the road to recovery.
• Who steps up in his place at DT … "Antwan Jackson, Tommy Togiai for sure … they’ve been here for a couple years … we’re hoping to get Haskell back here pretty soon, not sure when he can go through contact … Ty Hamilton among the young guys … we need guys to heal up from nagging injuries and get rolling."
• Possibility of day-of-game travel … "with a noon kick that’s probably not a reality … even if we fly in the night before, lots of challenges with this … we have other sports and teams that are playing right now and gathering info from all of that … its really 4 away games to get it right."
• So much personnel coming back including kickers … "that’s a group you don’t think about too much until it goes south … Drue (Chrisman) is a big part of what we do, Blake (Haubiel) coming back helps too … LS situation need to figure out to replace Liam who was a 4-year guy … you just forget about those guys."
• "Atmosphere here is great with special teams … Matt Barnes leads off almost every meeting with former Buckeyes playing on ST in the NFL … always trying to show guys doing that … we take a lot of pride in that here."
• Does Matt Barnes have total control of special teams? "It’s a team effort, but Matt drives it … hes a good teacher and he’s strong … Parker Flemming is a quality control guy for us and a really good young coach … can't be on the field really, but he’s a right-hand guy … I’m in every one of those meetings … only guys that aren’t are OL, DL, QBs – everyone else is, we take a ton of pride in it."

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