Ohio St. still fueled by ‘truth-telling’ loss to U-M
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Heather Dinich, Senior College Football Insider
ATLANTA — Following Ohio State‘s fourth straight loss to Michigan, the players had a meeting with coach Ryan Day during which they “really hashed some things out,” quarterback Will Howard said Saturday, a turning point in their season that helped propel the team to Monday’s national championship game against Notre Dame.
“It was really a truth-telling time,” Howard said at the College Football Playoff media day. “The facts were laid out there. People were challenged. Everyone including myself had to look in the mirror a little bit and say, ‘What can I do better? How can we fix this thing?’ The thing that we clung to was we still have this opportunity out in front of us to right all these wrongs and go play for a national championship and here we are. We’re right where we wanted to be. A lot of people wrote us off, but we really just believed in ourselves.”
The Buckeyes were favored by 21 points against Michigan, the widest point spread for the rivalry since 1978, according to ESPN Research. Since then, they have reeled off three straight playoff wins — against Tennessee, Big Ten champion Oregon and SEC runner-up Texas.
Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly said the team has shown its resiliency over the past few weeks, but had a choice to make.
“They talked through it,” Kelly said. “I think they understood what was presented, what’s ahead of us. I think that’s a big point. When you look at the game against Michigan, it could be one of two things: It could be your tombstone, or it could be a stepping stone, and Ryan and our players turned it into a stepping stone.”
Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said the 13-10 loss to Michigan made the team closer. After the first loss of the season to Oregon, Knowles said, “There were a lot of fingers being pointed at the defense. And the second one, it was kind of the other way.”
“I made a point to say to our guys, ‘Remember what that felt like the first time? You need to go out of your way to pick up your brothers on offense,'” Knowles said. “In a way they did, and it kind of really merged us.”
The Buckeyes are making their sixth national championship game appearance (national championship games began with the inception of the BCS in the 1998 season), but haven’t won one since the 2014 season. Ohio State is 2-3 in national championship games. The Buckeyes are trying to win their first national title under Day, who faced heavy backlash and questions about his job security following the loss to Michigan.
“Every year you learn and you grow,” he said, “trying to be self-aware enough to surround yourself with people who will tell you the truth, hoping to get better, and that’s really all you can do.
“When you go through great moments, you really grab on to the people who are around you, and it’s the same thing when you go through difficult moments,” Day said. “That’s why you build relationships.”
Ohio State has a 6-2 lead in the all-time series and has won six straight. Notre Dame’s last win over Ohio State came in 1936. Knowles said Day never allowed any of the criticism to impact his work or effect the staff.
“It’s not something we talk about because we just try to put our heads down and work,” Knowles said. “But in the end, brothers in arms, you’re happy he is being seen for the quality of person and coach that he is because he does a great job and he cares about the players and is in tune with what’s going on with the staff. The only thing you can do to help is win, so I’m glad we have done that.”
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Greg Wyshynski
Boston Bruins CEO Charlie Jacobs vowed that his team would return to the playoffs next season despite finishing in last place and trading away several players at the deadline.
“We’ve spoken at great length about this: The team that we currently have, [if] healthy and with the additions we intend to make this summer, I anticipate that we’ll have a playoff team and play meaningful hockey at this time of year in 2026,” he said.
The Bruins were last in the Atlantic Division (76 points) with their lowest standings points percentage (.463) in 18 seasons. The team fired head coach Jim Montgomery 20 games into the season and traded popular veteran players such as captain Brad Marchand, center Charlie Coyle and defenseman Brandon Carlo at the deadline.
“We fell way short and it’s disappointing for us,” team president Cam Neely said. “It’s disappointing for our fan base. They deserve better. They’ve supported us for a hundred-plus years. This gives us an opportunity to regroup a little bit, reset and build back better.”
GM Don Sweeney laid out a plan for that quick build back to contention. The first target is to add more offense, specifically on the wings.
“The scoring potential of our group needs to be increased and addressed this summer,” said Sweeney, whose team was 28th in the NHL in goals per game despite a 43-goal campaign from star David Pastrnak.
Sweeney said he wants the Bruins to get back to their core identity of being a strong defensive team in front of effective goaltending. Both Jeremy Swayman, in the first year of an eight-year, $66 million contract extension, and Joonas Korpisalo were in the negatives for goals saved above expected this season.
“Our goaltenders previously have been really, really good. This year, they weren’t as good. That’s fact. And our team in front of them didn’t defend with the same level of conviction,” he said.
Then there’s the aspect the Bruins hope turns around for next season: health. Key defensemen Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm both missed significant time last season.
To orchestrate all of this, Sweeney and Neely have to decide on the next head coach of the Bruins. Joe Sacco went 25-30-7 as an interim coach. Sweeney said Sacco has been informed that there will be a coaching search and that he’ll be a finalist for the job. The coaching search process is underway for Boston.
Sacco led the Avalanche to a 130-134-40 record from 2009-2014 and was a finalist for coach of the year in his first season. He spent 10 years as a Bruins assistant before being promoted for the rest of the season when Jim Montgomery was fired.
Sweeney is facing some uncertainty himself. He has been the Bruins’ general manager since May 2015, but is entering the last year of his contract. Neely said he’s debating whether or not to extend Sweeney.
“I’m still contemplating what the best course of action is. I really feel like Don has done a good job here, for the most part,” Neely said.
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