Buckeye Talk: Ohio State podcast by cleveland.com

The first year of the expanded Big Ten produced a season where the conference saw four teams make the College Football Playoff with Ohio State eventually winning a national title while Oregon won the conference. We saw some teams rise to the top while others who often benefited from the old Big Ten structure fell to the bottom in this new world. There are still plenty of months between now and the start of 2025, but we've reached the point of the year where we can take a way too early look at how things might shake out. On this Monday episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means and Stefan Krajisnik do just that by separating the 18 teams into six tiers. See who they think comes into the season with 'Natty or bust' expectations while others are trying to rebuild. Thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Has Ryan Day established a philosophy regarding how he fills out his staff as Ohio State's head coach? On this Friday episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means and Stefan Krajisnik discuss how they feel about Day’s most recent hire of Matt Patricia as OSU’s next defensive coordinator. They look at the decision from a micro level regarding what it means for the 2025 defense. But also have a discussion at the macro level about Day, his hiring practices and why he’s well on his way to establishing something that could one day be on the same level as Nick Saban. Thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ryan Day has found Ohio State's next defensive coordinator completing his 2025 coaching staff. On this episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means, Stefan Krajisnik and Andrew Gillis give their instant reaction to the news of Day hiring Matt Patricia. Then they get into the real reason why this episode exists. It's time to wrap up two days of drafting rosters based on players from the Ryan Day era by letting the Subtext subscribers decide who the best GM was. A hint...a certain veteran member of the crew dominated the field. Thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s been a while since Buckeye Talk dedicated a few shows to getting their competitive juice flowing. Over the next few episodes, that’s exactly what they plan to do: draft teams and ask the Subtext subscribers who did it best. That starts with this Wednesday pod where Stephen Means, Stefan Krajisnik and Andrew Gillis drafted an 11-player defense of Ohio State players strictly from the Ryan Day era. Only players who’ve gone through a season as Buckeyes can be drafted so members of the 2025 recruiting class or recent transfer additions don’t qualify. What positions will be valued early? Who can get creative with where they put players in the starting lineup? How many currently Buckeyes make the team? Listen to this 11-round draft to find out which 3 players between 2019-2024 made the cut. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s been a while since Buckeye Talk dedicated a few shows to getting their competitive juice flowing. Over the next few episodes, that’s exactly what they plan to do: by drafting teams and asking the Subtext subscribers who did it best. That starts with this Tuesday pod where Stephen Means, Stefan Krajisnik and Andrew Gillis drafted an 11-player offense made up of Ohio State players strictly from the Ryan Day era. Only players who’ve gone through a season as Buckeyes can be drafted so members of the 2025 recruiting class or recent transfer additions don’t qualify. What positions will be valued early? Who can get creative with where they put players in the starting lineup? Who will end up with Garrett Wilson? Listen to this 11-round draft to find out which 3 players between 2019-2024 made the cut. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

College football entered a new era in 2024 with 'Expansion' being the season's theme. The Big Ten and SEC expanded, adding both traditional and new-age powerhouse programs to their conferences, one of which won the league in Year 1. The College Football Playoff expanded from four to 12 teams, producing the longest season ever. All of those things lessened the consequences for some and weighted the rewards for others. No team fit that description more than Ohio State as it won a national title despite losing to its rival and failing to even make the Big Ten Championship Game. On this episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means and Stefan Krajisnik discuss the 2024 season, sharing highlights, challenges, and everything else in between. Thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ohio State's coming off a national title where plenty of things went the way you'd expect while a few others didn't. Now that the season is behind us, it's time to look back on all those predictions and decide who was right about what. On this Friday episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means, Stefan Krajisnik and Andrew Gillis revisit their Mark It Down Monday statistical leaders prediction episode from last summer. It's a long conversation about a few things we got right and a lot of things we got wrong,. Thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ohio State is coming off a national title which means also having to replenish its coaching staff as people leave for other responsibilities. Ryan Day has done just that by promoting Brian Hartline to being a play-calling offensive coordinator, Billy Fessler to quarterback coach and hiring Tyler Bowen as the new offensive line coach. Bring that together with running back coach Carlos Locklyn and tight end coach Keenan Bailey and you have one of the youngest staffs in college football. On this episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means, Stefan Krajisnik and Andrew Gillis break down the new hires and what it says about what Day might be creating in Columbus. Thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As a way to put the final punctuation on Ohio State football's 2024 season, it felt right to put together one last player ranking. On this Tuesday episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means, Stefan Krajisnik, and Andrew Gillis examine the roster and decide on the top 20 players. Some spots seemed like no-brainers, while others required a conversation to reach a consensus. Thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ohio State is celebrating a 2024 national title this offseason while also turning its focus toward the future, needing to replace many of the players responsible for that championship. Defensively that means replacing eight of its starters with guys with just as much talent, but none of the experience. On this Monday episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means and Stefan Krajisnik project a 2025 defensive depth chart featuring a combination of guys who've patiently waited their turn and a few incoming freshmen capable of having Day 1 impacts. Thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode of Buckeye Talk is brought to you solely on behalf of the texter community delivering questions about practically everything under the sun. Among the topics discussed by Stephen Means, Stefan Krajisnik and Andrew Gillis: Where Ryan Day sits in the Ohio State head coaching hierarchy; The OSU fan base; OSU's success in NIL; National championship vibes; Jeremiah Smith's NFL Draft stock Jelani Thurman's development; Favorite Buckeyes interview and 2024 game; Plus plenty more. Thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ohio State's 2023 recruiting has spent most of its time in the background since arriving in Columbus, but that's about to change. That class enters its third season ready to take a larger role within the program. It is the core of a 2025 roster trying to repeat as national champions. So far, only one player from that class has established himself as a starter, but as OSU enters the offseason, more will surely join him. On this episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means, Stefan Krajisnik and Andrew Gillis discuss a few players heading into their third years who are gearing up for breakout seasons. Plus, Stephen takes accountability for a mistake. Thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ohio State's recruiting focuses have turned to its 2026 class where it already holds four commitments. Headling that group is five-star Chris Henry Jr., as the nation’s top wide receiver. He’s joined by four-star cornerback Jakob Weatherspoon, four-star tight end Corbyn Fordham and three-star wide receiver Jaeden Ricketts. On this episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means and Andrew Gillis discuss how many numbers more people should join them as Andrew puts together the perfect 2026 class. The conversation is about the number of commits and types of players needed at every position for the 2026 class to be a success. Thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While Ohio State was in the middle of a national championship run, it was also trying to build for the next season. Thanks to how college football is set up, all of that was happening simultaneously. Now that the run is over, we finally have a chance to catch up on all the newcomers and outgoers of the past two months. On this episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means, Stefan Krajisnik and Andrew Gillis discuss at all the attrition and addition that's happened. Plus some thoughts on defensive coordinator Jim Knowles choosing to leave for Penn State. Thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ohio State celebrated its 2024 national title on Sunday afternoon inside Ohio Stadium officially closing the chapter on that story. Because college football never stops. Now it's time to look toward the future as OSU starts its campaign to repeat. On this Monday episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means and Stefan Krajisnik project a 2025 offensive depth chart featuring a bevy of new names everywhere. Plus, as promised, the Monday pod officially has a name. Thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's time for another Buckeye Retalkables, and up on this episode of Buckeye Talk is Ohio State vs. Notre Dame in its recent College Football Playoff National Championship game win. This win made Ryan Day the third straight OSU head coach to win a national title and fifth overall solidifying his place in program history with a 34-23 win. It's by far the biggest win of his tenure surrounded by what may be three of the other top five on an historic run. Instead of letting time pass as we've often done with these Retalkables, Stephen Means lets Stefan Krajisnik and Andrew Gillis make their Retalkable debut by looking by on Monday night's game. There are all the usual ReTalkables categories, as a way to break down the game. Thanks for listening to another ReTalkables on Buckeye Talk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ohio State opened up the 12-team College Football Playoff the same way it opened up the four-team field by holding up a trophy. The Buckeyes knocked off Notre Dame in the championship game, 34-23, to reclaim their spot at the top of college football. It also punctuated an era of Buckeyes looking to close out their chapters on a high note after four years of riding an emotional roller coaster. On this postgame episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means, Stefan Krajisnik and Andrew Gillis discuss the win and what it means for Ryan Day. They also compareWill Howard to the two other OSU championship-winning quarterbacks of the modern era and where this title sits among them. Thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this Sunday Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means, Stefan Krajisnik and Andrew Gillis break down Ohio State's National Championship Game against Notre Dame and make their picks. Here’s what gets discussed: What a national championship could do for Ryan Day and Marcus Freeman as head coaches; Stephen, Stefan and Andrew give their game picks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices