Buckeye Talk: Ohio State podcast by cleveland.com

It’s Week 3 of official visit season for Ohio State meaning another group of important 2025 targets will be on campus. This first weekend features 11 players with four-star recruits Carter Lowe and London Merritt headlining as the lone commits. On this episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means and Andrew Gillis discuss them all. The two discuss the importance of the visits, what they could potentiall...

On this episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means and Andrew Gillis discuss the most interesting things observed and heard at Ohio State's third June recruiting camp. The two discuss OSU five-star quarterback commit Tavien St. Clair showing up for the second time this summer and what he had to say about his development. Then they talk about two 2026 quarterbacks who camped Tuesday as Ohio State shift...

On this episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means and Andrew Gillis discuss the most interesting things observed and heard at Ohio State's second June recruiting camp. The two discuss OSU's two 2025 commits in five-star quarterback Tavien St. Clair and four-star tight end Nate Robert. But after they discuss a four-star recruit in the 2026 class who used an impressive day to not only earn an offer but...

It’s Week 2 of official visit season for Ohio State, meaning another group of important 2025 targets will be on campus. This second weekend features 10 players with four-star recruits De'Zie Jones and DeShawn Stewart headlining as the lone commits. On this episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means and Andrew Gillis discuss them all. The two discuss the importance of the visits, what they could potent...

On this episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means and Andrew Gillis discuss the most interesting things observed and heard at Ohio State's first June recruiting camp. They look at which recruits may have earned an offer after an impressive first day which ranges from rising senior offensive in the 2025 class to speedy wide receivers in the 2027 class going into their second year of high school. They...

This Friday episode of Buckeye Talk is brought to you solely on behalf of the texter community delivering questions. Among the Ohio State topics discussed by Stephen Means and Andrew Gillis: Can an elite defense impact a team's offensive aggressiveness? Changing the recruiting calendar Ryan Day's son as a quarterback prospect Which walk-ons would you give a scholarship to in 2024? Renovating the W...

The conversation revolves around the upcoming camp week for Ohio State, focusing on the recruitment process and the evaluation of high school athletes. Stephen Means and Andrew Gillis discuss the value of this period for building relationships, identifying new talent, and making offers to potential recruits. The conversation covers a range of topics related to Ohio State football, including early...

There is a ton of new in the Big Ten as the conference heads into a new era. It's gotten rid of divisions opening up the possibilities for the conference championships game. It's also expanded its team total to 18. That expansion mixed with a few highly-rated freshmen, big-time transfers and some coaching hires has brought a ton of new faces to the conference as well. On this episode of Buckeye Ta...

It’s officially official visit season and Ohio State is set to host its first group of 2025 targets. This first weekend features 10 players with four-star recruits TJ Alford and DeShawn Stewart headlining as the lone commits. On this episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means and Andrew Gillis discuss them all. The two discuss the importance of the visit, what they could potentially bring to the class...

On this episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means and Andrew Gillis discuss Ohio State's transfer portal activity, focusing on the players brought in, their impact on the team, and the decision-making process behind the transfers. It also delves into evaluating the offensive line and the significance of not adding more transfers. The discussion provides insights into the team's strategy, player devel...

On this latest episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means and Andrew Gillis catch up on what’s been happening on the recruiting trail for Ohio State. It’s been about three weeks since the last deep dive into the 2025 class which ranks second nationally. Since then, the Buckeyes suffered a third commitment and a second from a cornerback. It’s also seen another highly-rated wide receiver target reopen h...

This Tuesday episode of Buckeye Talk is a bittersweet one as we take a break from discussing Ohio State football. After five years, Nathan Baird is leaving us to head back to Indiana to cover Purdue. So he and Stephen Means spend the next hour reflecting on the past five seasons covering the early stages of the Ryan Day era. They look at the high moments, the low moments and take questions from th...

The Game has fundamentally changed forever. No longer does the Ohio State-Michigan game hold so much weight regarding either team's football future. But that doesn't change the fact that it's still the biggest rivalry in sports. But does it change how fans will view the consequences of any potential loss? On this episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means, Nathan Baird and Andrew Gillis explore that i...

On this episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means, Nathan Baird, Andrew Gillis and Jimmy Watkins continue with Day 4 of May-chigan week. The quartet used this episode to rank the 20 best players taking part on the 2024 Ohio State-Michigan game. As they make their way through the list, they discuss the lopsided reality of how many Buckeyes are on the list in comparison to Wolverines and what that coul...

Ohio State and Michigan take very different approaches to putting together a college football roster. Stars matter to one program as it's constantly sitting near the top of the recruiting rankings. The other relies on the diamonds in the rough often overlooked in those same rankings. On paper, it's clear which approach should result in a national title, but it's the other approach that's gotten th...

Last season Michigan put together an uber-experienced roster hoping to maximize its championship window and now Ohio State is doing the same hoping for a similar result. On this episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means, Nathan Baird, Andrew Gillis and Jimmy Watkins take a look at the Wolverines' 2023 roster and decide whether OSU's 2024 roster could beat the team that beat it 30-24 last season in th...

It is officially ‘May-chigan Week’ as we are six months away from the 2024 Ohio State-Michigan game which heads into a new era. The College Football Playoff has expanded forever changing the stakes of The Game in terms of the consequences for winning and losing. But the cultural impact remains as the Wolverines enter Year 1 under Sherrone Moore and OSU enters Year 6 under Ryan Day. On this episode...

Ryan Day’s introduction to the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry as a head coach resulted in success in such a way that he even publicly admitted gave him a feeling of relief. Back in 2019, OSU got a 56-27 win in Ann Arbor that suggested its dominance in the rivalry would continue into the Day era while Jim Harbaugh was the coach who couldn't get over the hump. Now here we are five years later and oh, h...

This Thursday episode of Buckeye Talk is brought to you solely on behalf of the texter community delivering questions. Among the Ohio State topics discussed by Stephen Means, Nathan Baird and Andrew Gillis: Could OSU have two 1,000-yard running backs in 2024? How long will Chip Kelly be at Ohio State? Which non-staters could have a big impact in 2024? Could Ryan Day realistically be in Columbus fo...

On this episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means, Nathan Baird and Andrew Gillis discuss adding former players to Ohio State football's 2024 roster. The trio analyzes the potential impact of these additions and discusses the current roster's strengths and weaknesses. Then they select players who once played for Ryan Day's OSU program who could instantly fill a potential hole on the 2024 team. Each s...

In this episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means, Nathan Baird and Andrew Gillis discuss the most dangerous opponents on Ohio State's path to winning a national title in 2024. They rank the potential threats, including coaches, players, and teams. They identify several coaches and players from opposing teams who could pose a challenge to the Buckeyes. Thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk. Learn more...

Ohio State has signed five recruiting classes since Ryan Day took over the program each having things to be excited about. But what should we think of them years later now that players have gotten on the field? On this episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means and Nathan Baird break down Day's recruiting classes trying to figure out if the way we viewed them on Signing Day held up years later. Which...

As Gene Smith enters his final days as Ohio State's athletic director, Stephen Means and Nathan Baird decided to sit down with him for an hour-long conversation. On this episode of Buckeye Talk, the two recap the enlightening conversation. They cover everything from Smith's background, his decisions as athletic director and how he's setting up OSU's athletic department for the future. Plus a look...

In this episode of Buckeye Talk, the hosts discuss Ohio State football records and potential records that could be broken in the 2024 season. OSU has already broken its fair share of both individual and team records since Ryan Day took over the program in 2019 and a few more may be on the table this season. After looking back at some of those records, Stephen Means, Nathan Baird and Andrew Gillis...

Oho State got a surprise visit from David Sanders Jr. over the weekend as it continues to quickly build momentum for the five-star offensive lineman. Landing the nation’s No. 2 player and top tackle would not only be a major win for OSU’s 2025 recruiting class but would also be the type of recruiting win it’s long hoped to get from offensive line coach Justin Frye ever since he was hired in 2022....