One More, Then Forever by Jack Sawyer

I was Ryan Day’s first head coaching hire back in 2019. I’m from Pickerington, Ohio and I’m not going to lie – I was an “easy” recruit. Most of my dreams as a kid involved being a Buckeye. When I was five or six, my father would come home from a long day at work and he was so tired. But I wouldn’t even let him sit on the couch until we went outside with the soccer ball. I wanted to ask him for “10 minutes” but of course it was a scam. We’d run routes and I’d pretend I was James Laurinaitis making these game-saving interceptions (I’d wear his 33 jersey most days). Or I’d be Troy Smith and throw bombs across the yard. You get the picture. If you let an Ohio kid come out with a football, 10 minutes quickly turns into two hours.

I lived and died with Ohio State football. In 2014, when we got upset by Virginia Tech, I took it so hard. I was 12 and you couldn’t tell me something afterwards I was so mad and so down about it. I remember the bus ride to school where the next Monday we were basically handing out condolences – a bunch of sixth graders who just looked at each other and were like, Hey, man. I am sorry for your loss. And when we ended up flipping the script that same season and going to our playoffs?? “85 yards through the heart of the South” … honestly, when Zeke broke through that line against Bama, I had never been happier in my life. I just started yelling at the tv in our family room, like yelling at the top of my lungs like Zeke could hear me or something. We still had to win the championship game, but that game felt like The Moment. I knew those guys got it done.

And then I pretty much spent the rest of my childhood wishing I could fast forward – just wanted to smash that button and get it over with already so I could be in the part where I play on Saturdays at the Shoe . And somehow it all worked out and I became a good enough player where I actually ended up getting that opportunity. So while a lot of people like to talk about how I was “Ryan Day’s first commitment,” it’s probably not my commitment that tells you much about Coach. Because the truth is, I came to Columbus no matter what.

My commitment that actually tells you about Coach – this is the one I made a year ago.

This is the one many of us have made.

My first three years here were definitely ups and downs. As a freshman and sophomore, I did not play up to my potential at all. It is not an original story of why. I think I just got a little lost in the light. I still had some growing to do. And it was in those rough first few years that I saw what Coach Day is all about. Because it’s easy to preach family on the recruiting trail, and it’s easy to preach family when things are going well. But when things aren’t going so well – that’s when you’ll see a coach’s true character.

In those early seasons when I was struggling, I appreciated how Coach didn’t treat me like I was just an underachiever. Honestly, he treated me more like a son. He told me when he was disappointed and when there was something I needed to work on. But he would never try to “prove a point” with me by being one of those dictator types – he always made me feel like a human being. It felt like his criticism was about my progress, not his ego. And it worked, you know? The culture he has instilled here is a big reason why I was able to turn the corner as a junior and start reaching my potential.

And I think that same culture has shown in how we’ve been able to handle our ups and downs at the team level. A lot of high profile coaches, I think it’s almost like they’re playing the “head coach” character in a football movie. It’s a lot of big speeches when the cameras are rolling, and a lot of focus on themselves when the team is successful. But you get the feeling they’re not the same guy when the cameras stop rolling. And if the team falls short, it’s never about them – they throw their players under the bus without a problem. Man, it’s hard to even put into words how much Coach Day is the opposite of that. In public and in private, I tell you, he is exactly the same fellow. And it might not make good TV or whatever, but for us as players, we know there’s nothing wrong with him. And that means a lot.

It also means a lot to know how much he has our back in the bad moments. Frankly, too much. The amount of crap Coach has taken on our behalf is insane. I remember him telling us about how after one of our losses to Team Up North he had to take his son and daughters out of school – because the kids weren’t just saying things about them and their dad and how they should leave town , and they are not welcome here, but actual teachers were too. Hearing that made us so angry. But I also think that one of the reasons that things have been able to happen is because of how high Coach’s character is. He refuses to hang his players out to dry. In the good times, he will focus on us. In the bad times, he wants to focus on himself. And it’s certainly unacceptable, the amount of toxic bull*** he’s had to deal with over the years. But if you’re wondering why his players play so damn hard for him – well, it is.

And a lot of us had that in mind, I think, when we talked last January about whether we wanted to run it back as seniors. Basically we did a group chat about the seniors and the guys who could come back for a fifth year and we just started talking about it. I kind of got the ball rolling. For me it was like, man, I know we all want to do this one last time, and do it right, no “what ifs.” And I know we all have great opportunities to play at the next level. But imagine where we will be and how it will feel if we win the jersey. We have our whole careers to play at the next level – and our whole lives to be Buckeyes. But we only have one more chance to be national champions…and being national champions is forever. So I knew we all had to make our own decision, but I told them where my head was at. Let’s drive it back and finish this right. One more, then forever.

And so it went back and forth for a few weeks, everyone weighed in and said where they were with it. It was just a group of guys who all care about each other and talk openly about our situations. And everyone understood everyone else and checked in to see how the other guys were doing and gave them as much time as they needed. And no matter what anyone’s decision was, it was all love in the end. We made sure of that.

A guy on our team (I won’t say who, just to keep it private), maybe a day or two before the deadline, he said to me – “Jack, I’m sorry. I can’t. I have to go. ” And of course I thought, “If that’s what’s best for you, man, I get it. You have to follow that feeling. Either way, you’ve got a brother in me for life.” It was around 10 p.m. The next morning I get a call from the same guy. He’s like, “Jack, I’ll be back.” Wait, are you sure? Nine hours ago you were gone.” And he says, “I thought about it. asked for it. Talked to my family, talked to Coach Day. And I just have to get back with you guys. I just have bowl.” Man… that wore me out. Like right there — that’s what this brotherhood is all about.

And I probably don’t have to tell you this, but the group that came back… I mean, yeah. We came back on a mission. We knew what was at stake and we just went to work. Challenging each other in the weight room, challenging each other on the green, challenging each other in any way we could. Straight up, I’m telling you, our offseason last summer was the most competitive environment I’ve ever been in. Our low season. I came out of it thinking to myself, like Okay – THIS is what it feels like to “push your chips in”. That’s what we’ve built towards.

And I think what’s so fitting about this season and about this group is that nothing has come easy for us all along. Oregon? Brutal. Beyond brutal – just so hard in every way. Then we lost to TTUN at home, as these heavy favorites, knowing it was our class’s last chance to beat them……. I can’t even describe it. I will never get over that loss. And frankly, that’s the type of loss most teams don’t recover from. Everyone blames everyone else, the program seems to stop by itself, the next game they lay an egg – and all of a sudden it’s over. It could have easily been us vs. Tennessee, and I’m sure a lot of people expected it. But what those people didn’t understand was, as harsh as some of the criticism was, was it coming from outside? Inside our program, it’s family.

After the TTUN game, we gave ourselves a week to digest it. Then we had a meeting: only players, plus coach’s day. And like everything else in our program, that meeting wouldn’t have made a great movie. It wasn’t a bunch of egos flying around or big speeches. It was more like … some family conversations. Don’t get me wrong: They were adult man family conversations. Guys were upset, frustrated, tempers flared, it got heated. Some tough questions were asked and no one shirked any of them. Especially not Coach Day – and that’s a big credit to him when you consider the circumstances. He’s got people all over town, the internet, radio, TV saying he’s this terrible coach or he should be fired. And it’s like he didn’t care any of it. All he cared about was our locker room and our accountability and getting back on the same page. He was basically like, “We are goes to the playoffs. It is happens.” And when we first got going, we knew we had two options. Option A: We could stay down after taking that blow from TTUN, and already be defeated, and play the way most people expected us to play. Or option B: Get pissed off. Go out there and play OUR damn game.

We could quit like we knew everyone wanted us to … or be the best team in the country that we know we are.

We chose option B.

Honestly, man…it’s crazy to think how time flies. 16, 17 years ago, I’m in the yard with my father, making plays as if I’m Laurinaitis. 10 years ago I was in the family room yelling at Zeke through the television. Five years ago, I’m in Pickerington and will be Ryan Day’s first commitment as a head coach. A year ago I was in Columbus telling Coach we’re running it back – and deciding with my brothers that we’re going to do it together and push our chips in for one more season and try to hang a banner that will survive all of us.

And now here we are. “One more season” is down to one more game. Whatever happens Monday night, know this: Coming back as a senior is a decision I’d make again in a heartbeat. It has been a dream come true for me to play football at this school and I mean that literally. I dreamed of playing here – and then it came true.

Anyway……. that’s it from me. Time to lock in.

Time to show them how we take a hit in Ohio.

Time to go out there and play OUR damn game.

Time to be Buckeyes.

One more, then forever.

– Jack