Ohio State Is The National Champion

Congratulations to Ohio State.  The Buckeyes are the college football champions in the first year of the 12-team CFP; they beat four good football teams to earn that distinction in this new playoff format.

• The first-round games were “Meh!”
• The quarterfinal games were better.
• Both semifinal games were entertaining
• The final game was excellent.

You may recall that I said I wished for Ohio State to win and then for Coach Ryan Day to take the trophy for winning the National Championship and say into the microphone that he would resign as the Ohio State coach because the fans there are irrational.  That did not happen on live TV – – but hold on.  One of the lead articles today on CBSSports.com has this headline:

“Ryan Day gets Ohio State back atop college football; now he’ll make an NFL call on his own terms”

In the column under that headline, the author begs Day to stay in Columbus and not seek an NFL job right now.  Alternatively, I hope Day’s agent has already been on the phone to enough NFL teams for the word to get out that he will be listening to offers.  And if he takes an NFL job, the Ohio State fans will get exactly what they wanted 2 months ago – – a new football coach in Columbus, OH.  Except in this scenario, they do not get to fire Ryan Day; he gets to fire all of them.

Speaking of NFL coaching vacancies, the Bears have filled their opening by hiring Ben Johnson who was the offensive guru for the Detroit Lions over the past several seasons.  His task in Chicago is simple; he has a young QB with a boatload of physical talent and at least one young WR who can become a certified #1 receiver at the NFL level.  Johnson’s main job is to have those talents express themselves on the field on Sundays.

Johnson takes over a job where success is in the distant past.  It was 2006 when the Bears last played in – – but lost – – the Super Bowl.  Since then, the Bears have finished at or below .500 fourteen times and only made the playoffs three times.  You do not need to be overly proficient with the “Fosbury Flop” to get over that bar.  However, the job is not merely teaching and growing a few young talents:

• In 2024, the Bears allowed more sacks of their QBs than any other team.

That situation must not continue to obtain, and the Bears have 8 picks in this year’s NFL Draft.  That deficiency may not be overcome by Week 1 of next season, but Johnson must improve that part of the team dramatically and quickly lest his prize young QB be ground to dust.

The fact that Johnson chose to work with the Bears – – where ownership and front office management is hardly top notch – – says something about two other teams seeking head coaches today.

1. The Raiders were supposedly pursuing Johnson; he chose the Bears.  Both the Bears and the Raiders disappointed on the field in 2024, and both the Bears and the Raiders have “owner/front office reputations” that are not among the elite in the NFL.  But the Bears have Caleb Williams, and the Raiders have Aiden O’Connell/Gardner Minshew/Desmond Ridder.   ‘Nuff said …
2. The Jags were supposedly pursuing Johnson; he chose the Bears.  Both the Bears and the Jags disappointed on the field in 2024 and both the Bears and the Jags have a young and talented QB for Johnson to mold and develop.  My gut tells me that Johnson leaned into the non-elite front office/owner situation in Chicago because he perceived the front/office/owner situation in Jax to be worse.  Obviously, I cannot prove that assertion; so, I won’t try; but that makes sense to me.  Whatever …

Let me focus on the Lions for a moment.  With Johnson gone, they need to find a new Offensive Coordinator; OK, that is something that is routinely done in the NFL.  However, there are reports that the Jets have narrowed in on hiring Aaron Glenn to be their next head coach – – and Glenn is the Lions’ current defensive coordinator.  That would mean the Lions would need to replace both of their main coordinators at the same time.  I guess that is the price an NFL franchise pays for being good …

Finally, since today has been about football coaches, let me close with these words from Paul “Bear” Bryant:

“If anything goes bad, I did it. If anything goes semi-good, we did it. If anything goes really good, then you did it. That’s all it takes to get people to win football games for you.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………