Even when the “Last Dance” approach is successful, there is a downside to it.
When you get the band back together for one final run at a championship, even if you succeed, you know that there almost certainly will be a stepback after the all-in approach. The most famous example is the Chicago Bulls, the focus of the “Last Dance” docuseries, which won a title with Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman in 1998 and then won only 13 games the next season when all three were gone.
Ohio State convinced its top stars to come back for one more season in 2024 to make a run at a title after falling short in previous season, added Ryan Day’s mentor, Chip Kelly, to run the offense and assembled a $20 million roster. It all worked out in the end when the confetti fell inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium and a jubilant Day finally proved to the college football world — and his fanbase — he could win the big one.
Now Ohio State is experiencing the aftermath of putting so much effort and resources into winning in 2024. The player exodus of stars like Jack Sawyer, Will Howard and Emeka Egbuka was expected. The loss of both coordinators and offensive line coach less so.
The challenges that come with that should be well-known to Ohio State, though. All it has to do is look at its chief rival Michigan.
After Michigan’s 2023 title, the Wolverines lost their head coach (Jim Harbaugh), defensive coordinator (Jesse Minter), special teams coordinator (Jay Harbaugh) and strength and conditioning coach (Ben Herbert). That’s on top of losing 13 players to the NFL Draft — the most of any school in 2024 — headlined by quarterback JJ McCarthy, defensive lineman Kris Jenkins and running back Blake Corum. Like Ohio State, Michigan rallied around a one last swing approach and got talented players to return for a final year. Harbaugh even turned down an opportunity with the Denver Broncos to have one more shot at winning a title at his alma mater.
With first-time head coach Sherrone Moore, Michigan had an up-and-down 2024 season. The timing of Harbaugh’s departure hampered Michigan’s chances of adding an impact transfer portal quarterback, leading to a quarterback-by-committee approach that had some high highs (wins over Ohio State, Alabama) and low lows (two-score loss to Illinois).
“We just came off a (national championship) and we lost about 46 or so percent of our production, and it’s hard to recover from that,” Michigan long-snapper William Wagner told CBS Sports. “We didn’t have many transfer portal guys come in. With what we had, we did very well.”
To Wagner’s point, Michigan beat Ohio State for the fourth consecutive time and beat an Alabama team that barely missed making the College Football Playoff. Yet, it went only 8-5 and the early disappointment of the season helped power the push to land No. 1 overall recruit Bryce Underwood, who flipped from LSU to the Wolverines in a high-stakes recruitment that even included Michigan alumnus Tom Brady. Michigan had a veteran-led team in 2023 that was a major advantage in its perfect 15-0 title season. A year later, that loss of experience came with a price.
“It’s not like the NFL where you’re just gonna sign another contract. No, you’re leaving and we’ve got to find someone to replace you,” Wagner said. “Replacing someone like JJ, Blake Corum, Mike Sainristil, even Karsen Barnhart, it’s very hard to replace those guys in a short window.”
Michigan’s 2024 experience offers a reason to temper expectations for Ohio State next season though even in a worst-case scenario it feels almost impossible to envision Ohio State losing five games. There is too much talent on the roster coming back to take that big a step back, albeit the loss of coaching and player talent will certainly be felt.
There’s no understating that losing Kelly to the Las Vegas Raiders and defensive coordinator Jim Knowles to Penn State hurts. Kelly freed up Day to become more of a program CEO, and while there were some bumps along the way, it ultimately worked out with a national championship. Knowles, now the highest-paid assistant coach, leaving for a Big Ten rival was a blow even if there were some disagreements behind the scenes between the defensive coordinator and head coach.
Day needs to nail both hires but he has a strong base of player talent to work with regardless. It starts with star receiver Jeremiah Smith and star defensive back Caleb Downs, who have good arguments for being the two best players in the country next season. Having Smith, already the nation’s best receiver as a true freshman, and Downs is a massive advantage that Michigan didn’t possess this past season.
Unlike Michigan, it also looks like the future quarterback is already on Ohio State’s roster. Julian Sayin, the former five-star recruit, looks like the real deal and has already elicited strong praise from Kelly and Howard. “The dude spins a ball like I’ve never seen a ball get spun before,” Howard recently told CBS Sports about Sayin.
If Sayin is what people around Ohio State expect him to be, the Buckeyes will be at least a year ahead of Michigan in the post-title rebuild. He’ll miss running backs TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins and offensive linemen like Donovan Jackson, but returning talent like Smith and receiver Carnell Tate plus incoming Purdue tight end Max Klare should keep the offense explosive.
It’s why there are plenty of reasons to still be bullish about Ohio State’s 2025 chances even with the obvious comparison to what Michigan just went through. There are big questions still left to be answered and there could be some bumps along the road with new coordinators and a new starting quarterback, but the talent on the roster is undeniable.
Ohio State may not be dancing late into January again like it did this season, but the music is still playing and the party isn’t over yet.
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