COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State coach Ryan Day confirmed Monday that the Buckeyes national championship football team will visit the White House on April 14.

Ohio State’s visit comes two days after it wraps up spring football practices.

“It’s an honor to be invited,” Day said. “I remember growing up and watching the national championship teams go to the White House. I always looked at that, like, ‘Man, what an honor that would be.’ So, it’s part of the celebration of our team. I’m looking forward to getting that all planned out.”

The Buckeyes defeated Notre Dame 34-23 in the College Football Playoff title game in Atlanta to win their first national championship since 2014.

Ohio State will be the second championship team to visit the White House since President Donald Trump returned in January. The Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers made their trip on Feb. 3 before facing the Washington Capitals.

Vice President JD Vance is an Ohio State graduate.

Trump has attended many sporting events since taking office. On Saturday, he went to the NCAA wrestling championships in Philadelphia for the second time in three years.

He also was the first sitting president to view the Super Bowl in New Orleans, and he attended the Daytona 500 for the second time since 2020.

The Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles will visit the White House on April 28.

Day originally said April 12 would be a spring showcase instead of a traditional spring game. On Monday, he reversed on those plans when asked what the format would be for that practice.

“I just think we need to save a little bit of wiggle room in case we take injuries,” Day said. “It’s important that we start the season fast. And I think that the first step is playing the spring game. If we’re down some linemen, we have to adjust and figure that out from there.”

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Quarterback Cam Ward believes he has “solidified” himself as the top overall pick in next month’s NFL draft, he said Monday after Miami‘s pro day.

The Heisman Trophy finalist worked out in front of more than 90 NFL team staffers, including a full contingent from the Tennessee Titans, who own the No. 1 pick. At one point during his workout, Ward completed a pass and was seen speaking to Titans general manager Mike Borgonzi and president of football operations Chad Brinker after the play.

The gist of his message: I’ll see you next month.

“[I told them] ‘I’m solidifying it today,'” Ward said. “They finally got to see me throw in person. That should be all they need to see. But at the end of the day … I’m going to be happy whatever team I go to. I’m just trying to play football.”

Ward set multiple school records in his lone season with the Hurricanes in 2024, including the single-season records for passing yards, completions, passing touchdowns and completion percentage. In his final collegiate game, he became the all-time FCS and FBS combined leader in passing touchdowns with 158.

The former zero-star recruit out of West Columbia (Texas) enrolled at Incarnate Word in 2020 and threw for 6,908 yards and 71 touchdowns in just 19 games over two seasons. He transferred to Washington State before the 2022 season, and threw for another 6,966 yards and 48 touchdowns with 16 interceptions in two seasons before transferring again to Miami.

Ward said he believed he could be the top pick in the NFL draft while at Incarnate Word, but knew he had to prove it beyond the FCS level — hence, his transfers to Washington State and Miami.

“I think all I needed was a chance to play in a quarterback-driven system,” he said. “[Former Incarnate Word] coach [Eric] Morris gave me the opportunity and I just think I always carry myself that type of way. But then also it comes to a level you have to play at. A lot of people won’t take a No. 1 overall player from the FCS … it comes from the Power 5 level.

“So, I just think every year I’ve gotten better and it ultimately led to me being in consideration.”

The Titans drafted former Kentucky quarterback Will Levis in the second round in 2023, but he has completed just 61% of his passes over two seasons for 3,899 yards and 21 touchdowns with 16 interceptions. Levis was benched in favor of Mason Rudolph late in the 2024 season as the Titans struggled to a league-worst 3-14 record.

Though Ward insisted he would be happy to play for any team, he was excited about possibly working with Titans coach Brian Callahan, who spent five seasons as the Cincinnati Bengals‘ offensive coordinator.

“I think Coach Callahan’s one of the best head coaches out there. The things he did with Joe Burrow when he first got into the league made him be real successful,” Ward said. “I just think the playbooks match up not only for there, but Cleveland and New York. A lot of those three teams did the same things that we did in Miami. So I think it’ll be plug and play.”

The 2025 NFL draft will be held April 24-26 in Green Bay.

DETROIT — Matthew Weiss, a former University of Michigan and Baltimore Ravens assistant coach, pleaded not guilty in federal court Monday on 24 counts of unauthorized access to computers and aggravated identity theft.

Prosecutors allege that Weiss ran a vast, multiyear effort to access the personal accounts of thousands of NCAA student-athletes, generally targeting specific female athletes to access personal and intimate photographs and videos. The 42-year-old, married father of three is facing dozens of years in prison and millions in fines.

On Monday, he was released on a $10,000 unsecured bond. He was additionally ordered to turn over his passport and allow officials to install software on his computers to monitor internet use. Judge Elizabeth Stafford also prohibited him from possessing any personal information for anyone other than himself.

Weiss, clad in a dark suit and a blue tie, stood by his attorney’s side and clearly answered multiple questions from Stafford at a quiet early-afternoon hearing downtown, about 40 miles from the roars of Michigan Stadium, where he once worked.

Weiss and his attorney, Douglas Mullkoff, declined comment after the arraignment.

Weiss’ actions, prosecutors allege, date back to 2015 when he worked on the staff of the Ravens and head coach John Harbaugh. It continued, they say, when he moved in 2021 to a position as quarterbacks coach at Michigan, coached by John’s brother, Jim.

The university fired Weiss in January 2023 after a school investigation revealed he had “inappropriately accessed” computer accounts from Dec. 21-23, 2022, while inside Schembechler Hall — home to the Wolverines football offices. The university has declined further comment.

Weiss and Michigan were hit with a civil suit Monday from two former Wolverines athletes — a gymnast and a women’s soccer player — for the alleged violations. The school was accused of failing to supervise and monitor Weiss. Also named in the lawsuit is Keffer Development Services, which keeps the medical data of student-athletes at approximately 100 schools; a database Weiss first accessed.

Weiss was once considered a rising star in the coaching profession. A former punter at Vanderbilt, he had first worked for Jim Harbaugh as a graduate assistant at Stanford from 2005 to 2008 before joining John Harbaugh’s staff with the NFL’s Ravens for the next dozen years.

By 2022, he had returned to Jim’s side and was the co-offensive coordinator for a Wolverines team that won the Big Ten and reached the College Football Playoff.

Starting in 2015, however, prosecutors allege he began illegally accessing some 150,000 athlete accounts held on the Keffer system, often by using elevated access levels afforded to trainers and athletic directors.

Weiss then, the indictment reads, assisted by online research, cracked Keffer’s encrypted password protections of some athletes.

Using that information, prosecutors allege, Weiss began using open-source records to ascertain personal information of specific athletes such as “mother’s maiden name, pets, places of birth and nicknames.” That allowed Weiss “to obtain access to the social media, email, and/or cloud storage accounts of more than 2,000 targeted athletes by guessing or resetting their passwords,” according to the indictment.

“Once he obtained access … Weiss searched for and downloaded personal, intimate photographs that were not publicly shared,” the indictment read.

Weiss is also charged with obtaining similar access, for similar purposes, of an additional 1,300 students and/or alumni from schools across the country.

Weiss, prosecutors allege, did extensive research and kept detailed notes on the athletes he was targeting, basing it on “their school affiliation, athletic history, and physical characteristics.” After viewing photos and videos, he kept notes on whose materials he had seen, including comments on “their bodies and their sexual preferences.”

His actions, the indictment says, took place over years, including repeatedly returning to certain accounts for “additional photos and videos.”

The case could prove far-reaching with potentially thousands of victims at numerous schools.

Weiss is facing five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each of 14 separate charges and an additional two years of imprisonment on 10 additional charges.