Ohio State Football Insider: Ryan Day Press Conference Western Michigan Week

folks thanks for being here week week number two we're going to open it up with do Barry wbns you said you wanted to be the hardest working team in America and leave no doubt just you analyzed it how how did the guys perform in your mind was it a winning performance uh other than winning the game right I think uh after the game we we celebrated the Champions the guys who graded out um and you know they were guys who who did and so those guys got to continue to enhance as as you know the challenges get bigger and then there were guys who weren't and you know when that happens you got to identify what what it was that um you know didn't allow you to become a champion you know why didn't you grade out was it um you know somewhere in your process its feedback on how your week went whether it was the preparation whether it was the meetings the walkth through uh the practice um you know where you were in terms of understanding the game um being in the moment not getting caught up in in the moment you know there's a lot of things to identify what it was and now in week two the guys who didn't you know have to have to make those adjustments and grow um you know the effort you know across the board was was solid you know we're we got a long way to go here and we want to keep pushing and um there certainly were some great clips I think you guys saw some of that uh on Saturday but uh we're nowhere where we need to be we got to keep building it's a long season and so we'll get back to work today far left Joe Nan wcnh Do you have a feel on if Cody or Donovan might be returning this week yeah they're dayto day right now we're going to see how today goes but um you know had a good weekend and and we're gonna um list him as dayto day front row Dave bidd 247 Sports Ryan how did everything go with the helmet Communications and and just what do you think of that new process yeah it's different it's different um you can see a lot more teams are huddling in week one which you know I thought would be the case um it was it was good um but there still an element of of the no huddle that everyone's using so there there kind of a hybrid I think of some people using it and some people still signaling and and doing those things based on on who you're playing um but I think it's a great thing for for college football and we're all adapting I thought it went well in week one fourth row middle Pat Murphy 247 Sports Ryan after the game you mentioned metrics that you guys want to hit for the playoff I don't know if you brought that up before I don't know if you want to go into detail on what those are but what what are you looking at and and why this year when when you're kind of focusing on on those type of things well when when you look at um you know what you know the the cfp looks at in terms of your ranking now um I think every little bit is going to matter so whether you're you know a top four team or five six seven or eight um you you want to do everything you can to put yourself in best position possible moving forward so um you know there's there's things that come into play there um and so there's going to be a lot more discussion I think around you know one through 12 than maybe there was one through four when there was um you know only four teams that made it now when you're talking about one through 12 there's a lot more conversation and I think you know certainly we you know uh control our own destiny in terms of you know every game that we play and we're going to do that but I just want to make sure that guys know that when they're going in towards the end of the game like every rep matters why well here's an example of why and so that's the way we're going to approach every game Andy Backstrom fourth Letterman roll yeah Ryan uh with having a chance to watch back the film how are you feeling about the blocking are you're looking for more explosion in the Run game long term where is that right now and how much do perimeter blocking kind of factor into that um yeah it definitely plays into it um there was there was good staps there was some some plays that um you know we we got to the perimeter we didn't quite make that guy miss a couple times and there was some other times where you know there was um you know one in particular into the boundary we pulled around we didn't quite identify the backer that we had um there was a handful of things there um so yeah we're looking to be more explosive and everybody's got to own it everyone's got to be a part of it um there were some good things as the game went on but um got to see more Improvement in week two right behind Cameron T Robinson the athletic Brian you talked about trying to be talking myos be more close in the P return game obviously Brandon had a really good job with that on Saturday there's times in the past where maybe he would pament maybe let's one of those goes or fall catch that is that an idea of you guys being more aggressive like trying to consciously more aggressive in the B yeah we we um we worked hard in this offseason on special teams I think you know I shared with you that you know each of the coaches now own it and um you know Rob Keys is overseeing it and I'm a big part of it um on a daily basis now and one of the studies that we did was you know every time the ball hits the ground on on a turf field you know there's um you know an average of like 10 yards a roll there so you know we want to make sure that we're aggressive in Fielding those punts at the same time we can't be foolish because some of those punts you know you just you put yourself at risk of of of a um of a fumble so the first thing we got to do is get the ball back that's number one second thing we're trying to do is field it um again especially on a turf field when that ball can really roll you've seen some really poor punts just kind of take off on the turf and so we tried to eliminate those we think that those are well brandis's example a couple a couple of those on Saturday uh particular the one that he returned it was rolling down probably inside the 10 yard line he stopped it and then returned it back that was probably three or four first downs on offense it's a big deal so uh we're trying to educate our guys we're also going to be sound to make sure that we get the ball back and and win the turnover battle second row right Bill Landis Kings of the North and the podcast Ryan uh will has I think half of the scramble yards now with you guys he had last year at Kansas State because he had that one play where he got like 19 yards um and I scrambling to kind of like extend plays I don't know if he did that a ton at Kansas Cate I know he had a lot of designed runs but did he show you guys anything in this offseason whether that's changing his body or just I know different mentality where he's going to do more to be a little bit more of a playmaker in the situations that plays do break down oh he can because he's big in the pocket um but he also has speed that you know once he gets going you can see that he can he can hurt you with his feet I think that's you know when you look back on you know what Justin fields did a great job of was that you know he would extend plays on third down and when you can steal a couple third Downs in a game with scrambles that makes a huge difference it changes how the defense plays against you and um you know you can extend plays which allows receivers to get open you know longer so um you know I think he's going to be in a little bit more of a drop back situation here than maybe previously so he's going to have those opportunities but he also has to make good decisions when he's doing that you know the play at the end of the half really put the ball in Jeopardy that was a really poor decision and so um you know that's that's a part of it you got to take care of the football and having two hands in the pocket making good decisions uh when when it's time to throw it away I thought he did a nice job in one of them in particular where he did throw it away um there was another one I think he kind of scrambled on a um um on a play like around the 25 yard line he came back ended up throwing it away um you know in that moment there you know maybe try to scramble a little bit more you can't come up with every scenario that can come up you he's got to go play football and get a feel for it but you know for the first game out there I think he he looked like he he had some confidence he was moving around with a purpose uh and discernment his decision so that was good um but you know we got to build on it now Tony Gman Bucky huddle right now you assess the uh the tight ends G will galani after taking a look at everything yeah I thought uh they as a group locked well and um I think we had two two Champions there and um you know this this going to be more production coming out of the room moving forward but um but but they did a nice job and and so now you know we got to keep building on that as well um couple couple really good effort Clips in particular will casmar on one play I mean blocked his man about seven yards downfield and and pancaked them that's that's what we're looking for we're looking for that type of intensity that type of finish and you know they're going to be very much involved in the past game as well continuing to just yeah that was a big day for galani you know he needs to just play and and play through um you know some of his inexperience um there's going to be mistakes made there was the penalty that we had where he wasn't on the ball and there's a couple things we have to play through but I think it was good for him to get that game under his belt there's a lot of potential there um and the more he plays the better off he's going to be Stephen cleveland.com just to follow up earlier this year when we were talking with you about will Howard and you mentioned this with Justin Fields back when he first got here you almost told him he's not allowed to run he has to stand in there he has to learn how to operate back there and maybe will showed up with that ability for starters when did you start to get comfortable with the Justin playmaking trusting him more to do that but also not make mistakes and also applying that to W Howard as an older guy that he come in already with that trust because he is older and has been through it before yeah I think every quarterback is different they um you know have their eyes are down the field feeling the pocket you know what kind of um you try to figure out you know how how they are at that I think will first off he's he's tall so he can see over line I think sometimes when you're you know 63 or south of that it gets a little bit more difficult um he but he also has pois in there and you can just see that in practice so um again that's the art of playing quarterback you know you don't always know exactly how it's going to shake out or when it's time to scramble there's so many different variables but uh he has played he's got experience so I think that all helps with his decision- making right now and um you know we'll keep building on it and grow and the more comfortable he is in the offense and what we do and how things how teams are going play us here in this this conference I think the better he's going to be Spencer let himman R in particular with with t and a having two first time guards how much do you think that that affected the way that you guys first half yeah I I don't know I mean we we expect to go out there and and score Every Time We Touch the ball and and run the ball well so uh you know we're not in the excuse making business so you know those guys got to go and play really really well that's that's what we expect and um you know we're at Ohio State so let's go but um but you know I'm I'm you know predicting that this week they have a really good week of practice and they keep growing from it they build from it and they have a point of reference moving forward Jeremy Jeremy Birmingham the podcast Ryan untrained eye it look like arll re really kind of popped a lot when he was out there and then there were other linebackers that are obviously it's a whole group of guys playing for the first time really when when you see RL go out there and look that natural and and look like he belongs like that what does it say about that position moving forward how do you see the rotation moving forward when well the way that ARL played he he deserves um you know more reps um but I think it has to do with his preparation and um there was a moment uh last week where you know his preparation was just okay uh and then you know there was there was a point in the week where he really dug in and did a really good job with his preparation I think Jim and and uh James would would tell you the same thing and I think that allowed him to play fast so um that's a big part of playing linebacker there's just a lot that comes with it I mean you know I I review their their tips and their tests every week and there's a lot in that packet so uh he had to prepare at a high level and once you do that then the game can slow down for you and so uh if he continues to do that you see the athletic ability I mean and the strain that's what I like the most I mean some of those reps that he had I mean he's going as hard as he possibly can from point A to point B and we can build we can build on that I mean any coach in America would love to have somebody like that so if he keeps going like that and keeps with his preparation then he's going to keep building that I mean there was five guys who' never played before really a linebacker what was your biggest plus what was the area that you had the biggest concern um I I liked it seemed to me like they played hard um you know and I thought you know um Sunny moving positions here you know a week within or a week and a half uh of playing the season he handled that very well I thought his communication was good he got everybody on the same page um and so that was good I just think there needs to be overall consistency it needs to be um each guy has their own thing they need to work on and and I know James is working on that Adam King wbns coach chip up in the Box your first game really since you've been here that you weren't leading the play calling how did that go down there for you yeah it was good um again you know chip had his mindset on on what he wanted to get done in this game and um and it was a start you know long way to go but um but no overall calls came in quickly and I thought overall that part was was good we still want to be clean across the board I think we can be cleaner across the board um you know couple little penalties here and there that we got to clean up but um you know and again still same thing efficiency I think we can get in out of huddle faster we can get get um you know just sharper and everything that we're doing but just in terms of the operation of calling a game and all that it was clean in week one did you find that it gave you a little more freedom during the the time the offense wasn't on the field yeah um you know you can you get the the iPad and so it can you know you can kind of see what's going on during the game and get a feel for exactly you know what you're seeing um that is new you didn't really have that before you really relying on the guys up in the Box to give you information you know your your eyes can some sometimes deceive you down the field now you're able to confirm what you think you saw make adjustments and have the communication to the players in that moment so that that was good uh but the same thing with with special teams just being more involved with it with Rob making sure the right guys are in there what the calls are um and then being there on defense to just encourage the guys and be around them and um I did enjoy that part of it Dave Holmes wyx we just saw Western Michigan give Wisconsin a bit of a scare I'm guessing Ryan the talent Gap we know is there but I'm guessing that Western's guys just given National TV and stuff probably seen your players played dozens of times over the past few years and I'm guessing until film your guys have probably never watched the West Michigan game I'm just curious in matches like this do you see teams try to use that lack of familiarity against you I mean how does that work um yeah I mean I'm sure in the past there's been different things that that teams have done but um you know ultimately you know it does it comes down to you know not your opponent but you you know whether you're you know I've been there before on both sides of this and um you just got to come in and and do what your guys know and it comes back to your training in the end so um you know I mean we we know that there's certain things that we need to work on and improve on across the board and that's what we're going to focus on um they they do have a good team I thought they played well I think it is good for us to see them play another big 10 opponent just to compare what we're seeing um so that was good and I thought they played well in that game they were strong and and um they have a good team Dylan Davis Delaware Gazette did you get close all to playing three quarterbacks on Saturday was there third gu every put in the game or was that never uh it never really got to that we wanted to try to get Devon in there and try to get him some some drives and and you did see us throw the ball down the field and um again we're just you know we're trying to just run our offense and give him opportunities um so it wasn't like we just handed the ball off and got out of there you know we tried to tried to get the offense moving the goal was to score a touchdown we made sure everybody in the Huddle understood that we didn't do it so um you know that was a little disappointing but um but that's for everybody in that that huddle not just the quarterback and um you know if we have an opportunity to play three we will but we didn't um you know I feel like there was a point there we did pull away there in the second half and we were able to put Devon in the game and um you there may be some games here we get Devon thrown in a little bit earlier in the game um that wasn't the situation on Saturday find yourself in the position who would that guy be do you feel strongly about who that third guy would be right yeah all those guys are working right now so um you know we need all those guys to compete and um we're going to roll them and and just try to keep evaluating on a weekly basis and Hope 11 Warriors ran when you talk about being nowhere where we need to be what are the biggest points of emphasis this week areas that you feel like the team needs to improve this week it's it's it's just so many things across the board you know it's not just one area um you you can watch you know all four you know four um phases of special teams kickoff kickoff return punt punt return and just identify things um you know like for instance on that play of a punt return those plays go like 12 to 14 seconds they're long plays and I thought our guys busted their tail for like the first eight to 10 and then for the last four like how do you replicate that in practice it's not as easy as you think so like that that's just one example um you know there there are many other examples in special teams on offense and defense each guy has their things that that they need to improve on you know you go through the list of things we go through that with the team we watch the film on Sunday and then we go um I'm not going to get into all the details of it but just little things all across the board that we need to improve and when when you have a bunch of those things it adds up and you know we know where we need to be and I think you know the foundation hasn't been built yet you know we talked about you know the preseason and how that Foundation was was being laid well we're still building that up and tried to figure out you know how the preseason translated to game one you know again there's some assumptions that were made like hey you know this guy's ready this guy isn't or you know maybe this guy's a little bit better than we thought he was or this technique is is not not near where it needs to be or you know maybe there's somebody in there who uh you thought they were in better shape than they were and after about you know 20 25 plays their their game started to fatigue or maybe there's some guys in there who you know the the stage was a little bit too big for them early on they had to settle down I mean these are all the things and without getting into the details of all the things that we talk about as a team like those are the areas that we all have and each player has their own things that they need to improve on and then offense and defense are focusing on you know things as a group Austin WS podcast R what did you think of Austin celd specifically and is there a possibility that even when Donovan comes back that he could be still in the mix in the interior yeah I think so um he looked like a first-time starter in there who has real potential um has power has strength and um I think once he got his feet Underneath Him and started playing a little bit and flush to everything then he played decent um he didn't grade out a champion but uh he wasn't that far off so so that was good um and so now you know as as we take the next step you know you'll see him play this weekend and how much will be depending on how how healthy Donnie is going into the game but like you said even if Donnie is healthy you know you like to see him get in there and get some reps because that that was one of the positive things coming out was that you know some of these guys got more reps than uh maybe they wouldn't have or maybe they would have if you know um we were a little bit more healthier didn't have that virus go through so um so that was good and but he needs needs to keep playing and and he is playing at starter level um but you know the expectation is that you know we do great out of champion he was a little short in this one but for the first start there was some encouraging things Joey Kaufman Columbus Dispatch and now that when you when you talked about chip taking some of the play calling off your play you mentioned sort of it helping Sunday through through Friday of a week and being more involved in other areas what what is your schedule what's what was it like last week just in lead up to games are you different meetings just sort of what's what's that all like yeah still still much very much involved with with the offensive meetings and and there um you know very very much involved with all the Special Teams meetings with the staff with the players um you know I meet with the defense on Sundays um and obviously we have staff meetings every day and um and so and but then there's also just a little bit of time especially before practice where you know I get to kind of get my thoughts together you know and I'm in my office and you know I can watch the opponent in all three phases and get my my thoughts together how I want to uh message the team maybe call a player in have some one-on-one conversation there walk in a locker room you know get down the hallway and make sure that um you know everybody's aligned across the building you know those type of things that you know when you're in there kind of on a day-to-day basis grinding on the film sometimes that can get away from you and on game days how how how involved are you when stuffs over the headset just how often are you trying to involve any sort of breakdown um yeah I mean the best way to describe it is you know you could probably just imagine you know Jim's calling it and Chip's calling it and you know I'm kind of there having a conversation you know not getting in the way of you know what's being called but just making sure they understand the situation down in distance time um you know things that we're seeing down on the field you know maybe someone's got big eyes or maybe someone you know um you know is is you know looks good like we're rocking off the ball or you know we got to get these guys going maybe there you know there's a little lull or whatever those things are you're just trying to communicate that to to both sides and then and then understand situations you know what what's coming in a third down making sure that um you know everybody's involved in the sidelines you know those type of things just you know game Man game management it was a wey decision to give up you feel good about weekend out it's early it's still early yeah I would say but um but I think what it's allowed me to do like like we've talked about before is just you know be more present with everybody and um so so far it's been great to do and but still having you know say in what goes on you know in all three phases and you know every day Stefan chck cleveland.com talk about the way will is kind of grown this offseason from the spring to the fall of his understanding of the offense from watching that first game it seems like he got more comfortable as the game went on as well how do you feel kind of the communication kind of the understanding between him and chip is has developed of you know will kind of knowing what chip is trying to accomplish before the play calls even made yeah I I think it's good um when you're you know near will and in the quarterbacks and you can hear the the voice in the helmet you know you realize that that's a that's a different thing I mean to have a voice in your head while you're you know on the field uh is something to get used to and so we've worked hard on it in practice to get used to that and um you know that that is a good sign when um you know a play is called and you already know exactly what it is the good news now is you know he he can tell them why he called it you know you can give him little bits of information here and there you can make sure that he understands the situation he understands you know the down distance or maybe give a tip to one of the guys in the Huddle so um it's it's something new but it's so far it's been good and you know it seems like they're they're um you know jelling well been Columbus Dispatch can you name one thing that was a pleasant surprise from Saturday and maybe one thing that you didn't think would be an issue that proved to be an issue as concerning um I mean I think the the punt return um was better you could see that um I would say that that was that was good and um I was disappointed with the first kickoff return I I thought we had a opportunity to pop that and and you know we did not execute that well enough and so uh ultimately that's on the coaches so you know that was that was disappointing for sure um you know would would like to have got out to a faster start um you know obviously but um but was pleased how we came out the second half and and really you know um I think the second half was 35 to3 I mean that's that's what we're looking for I'm curious about the iPad thing um how much of a difference does that really make having having that access yeah it's significant yeah because everyone gets to really get real information and see it for exactly how it happened and that doesn't happen um up until you know we were able to have access to these so um it really does help and it really helps with the players making sure that they see it and they're getting communicated on what they're dealing with take us home Tim B let him take us home it's pretty funny uh thing just stood have I was a come from behind Wind by the way on Saturday and what what kind of stood out to me just watching is how businesslike kind of things went with you guys on the sideline maybe it wasn't but uh like you said in your role now as like a real head coach I mean being able to roam and look at people's eyes and stuff what did you see about this team that you really like you know during that as y'all were getting your act together aspect of things so no I think the first thing is that we have to understand that like this is a long road to where we're going and you know it's easy to sometimes hear the noise of down the road or what's coming and what you have to do is you just have to focus on right now you have to be in the present and you you'll hear almost every coach in America say the same thing but it's true and that's why they say it and you know we we're not just going to go in there and and win the game in the first quarter it doesn't work that way we have to stay focused on each play each Drive each game stay focused on an now ignore everything else the good praise the criticism the expect any of those things are out of the way and that's everybody involved and when we come into the stadium like we have to have a mindset that like we get to play this game like this is this is fun like this is this is a chance to play fun is winning fun is executing fun is scoring touchdowns fun is getting stops like that's that's what it's all about and that's why we're in the that's how we're playing this game and so you know and that and that you know you feed off the crowd and you know all of a sudden you know I think sometimes you know it's easy early in the season to you know looking down the road at what's going on and then all of a sudden you know you can find yourself in a little bit of a lull that's not going to happen it didn't happen you know we responded well and played really well in the second half so we're looking to get a fast start on Saturday and you know get out there with great energy and and be in the moment and just you know maximize every single play the best you can and so we've got to make sure that that's important and so you know we'll keep rting this that this week you know 2022 you had a veteran quarterback who played the previous year CJ you know I want go through the litan of Veteran quarterbacks but as you're watching the game from your Vantage Point Saturday are you looking at on the field like you know yeah uh will had some plays he'd like to have back but did you see see a guy who has had played before you understand what I'm saying no it's from a command standpoint yeah he's played you can tell he's got his demeanor that he's played before he just hasn't played in this offense before so there's things about the offense that he's still picking up so it's a little bit of both but the command you know being in the stadium not having bright big eyes and things like that um I thought the timing on on the two throws the two touchdown throws in particular to Jeremiah were excellent I thought the timing throw to Carnell was was really well done you know and the only way you're throwing things on time like that is if you've done the preparation and you've mentally played that play in your head over and over again that's a sign of a good quarterback there's other things that came up that you know is is somebody that just hasn't played in the offense a bunch so we got to get him these reps and um but but in terms of the command and the way he handled himself um he looked out experienced out there and and even the scrambles were big you know and um and we got to continue to take care of the ball and that's the most important thing here