Ohio State defensive end C.J. Hicks discusses what's different about Buckeyes this year
Now that the team has been there, done that, though, how do you keep things fresh, and how will all of that veteran talent (14 NFL draftees) impact the 2025 Ohio State Buckeyes?
According to defensive end C.J. Hicks, while appearing on the Bobby Carpenter show, there's reason to believe that this year's team can still be a very, very good one. In fact, he believes that while OSU has gotten younger and less experienced, it might just be hungrier this year.
Last year's team, there were guys who had been there, done that with more experience for sure. With this year, we can just tell that everybody's hungry. And you guys can attest to that with being in spring practices with all the chippiness and all that stuff. Like we're all hungry, we all want to be great. We all want to win, we hate losing.
This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: Ohio State defender C.J. Hicks discusses difference in 2025 Buckeyes
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USA Today
a few seconds ago
- USA Today
Former Auburn head coach brings a championship mindset to Florida State
FSU head coach Mike Norvell hopes that Gus Malzahn will play a vital role in the Seminoles making a run at the College Football Playoff. Former Auburn football head coach Gus Malzahn considered retiring from the game during the offseason, but has found a new home in Tallahassee, Florida instead. Malzahn was hired by Mike Norvell and Florida State last December after spending the last four seasons as the head coach of UCF, where he won 28 games and led the Knights to three bowl games. However, following a disappointing 4-8 year in 2024, Malzahn jumped at an opportunity to become an offensive coordinator again, a position where he thrived for many seasons. Norvell spoke on the Malzahn hire during his time at ACC kickoff this week by saying that Malzahn's championship mindset could be a major factor in the Seminoles returning to the College Football Playoff discussion. "I mean, having the opportunity to have Coach Malzahn come and be a part of our staff, it was special. It's somebody that I've had a 20-year relationship with. All the respect in the world for the man, just the coach. He's somebody that infuses confidence in everybody around him because he knows what he wants to do. He knows what he wants it to look like. It's the belief that he's able to pour into others, for what it takes on that journey. You talk about the perspective; he does. He's been a very successful head football coach. The last time he was an offensive coordinator he did win a National Championship. To make the choice and decision he made to come to Florida State, I mean, that is the purpose. That is the reason." Malzahn joined the college ranks as an offensive coordinator at Arkansas in 2006, and has held the role at four different programs. His most success came at Auburn, both as a coordinator and a head coach. He was the offensive mastermind behind the 2010 National Championship team that ranked No. 7 in overall yards with 499.2 yards per game, and produced the Heisman Trophy winner in Cam Newton. Malzahn led the Tigers to the 2013 BCS National Championship Game in his first season as the Tigers' head coach, a season that saw Auburn rank No. 1 in rushing with 328.4 yards per game. Another notable season for Malzahn at Auburn was the 2017 season, where he led Auburn to the SEC Western Division championship and scored wins over Georgia and Alabama when the teams were No. 1. Norvell and the Seminoles will look to Malzahn to bring his offensive expertise to Tallahassee as they look to return to the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2015. Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Taylor on Twitter @TaylorJones__


New York Times
2 minutes ago
- New York Times
Perils of tanking, costs of fandom and intrigue of Nick Lardis: Lazerus NHL mailbag
Before we get to the silliness, futility and futile silliness of a summer hockey mailbag, I just wanted to say a quick thanks for the overwhelming and unexpected response to my column about my dad a few weeks ago. It was just something I wrote in a daze on the plane that night; I tend to think with my fingers and was just trying to put the mental chaos I was feeling into something coherent for my own sake. And I've never been so uneasy about an edit as I was when I had my mom read it first. But all your comments, tweets, texts and personal stories were genuinely heartening and comforting. My mom, my brother and I read them all, and we all thank you. Advertisement Now, on to the promised nonsense. I'll let the results of our Chicago Blackhawks fan survey next week address all the conspiracy theories and rending of garments about Danny Wirtz and the rest of the team brass. And none of you asked anything nearly as interesting and involved as 'Reimagine the Blackhawks as Harry Potter characters,' so I'm going to try to be succinct (not my forte!) so I can get to as many as possible. Part 2 will run soon. Questions have been edited for clarity and length. Let's dive in. Maybe I'm too late, but I just heard you on 'The Athletic Hockey Show' saying, 'These kinds of rebuilds never work' about the Blackhawks. But I think you're the same guy who's said, 'No one's ever done it like this before.' Who, as a Chicago radio institution put it, are you crappin'? — Ted M. I say a lot of stupid things, so I'm going to need some accurate citations here. But both of those statements are true. At least, in the modern era. I'd argue that no team in the salary-cap era has won the Stanley Cup by actively tanking. The closest one would be the 2010 Blackhawks, but organizational incompetence isn't quite the same thing as intentionally losing. Sure, you need a couple of big names at the top of the lineup, and the draft is an excellent way to get there. But no team successfully builds exclusively through the draft. Not those Blackhawks. Not these Florida Panthers. Not anyone. At some point, you have to start trying. And it's true, the Blackhawks have tanked harder than any team has tanked since maybe the 1983-84 Pittsburgh Penguins. And with Chicago GM Kyle Davidson making an absurd 11 first-round picks in the last four drafts, and possibly Gavin McKenna waiting next summer, maybe I'll look foolish in the long run. Wouldn't be the first time. But given how disastrous other full guts have gone (hello, Buffalo and Detroit!), all I can hear in my head is Tobias Fünke saying, 'But it might work for us,' or Chief Wiggum saying, 'No, no, dig UP, stupid.' Advertisement Will Laurent Brossoit ever play a game for the Blackhawks? — Gregory E. 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From parking to concessions and even merch, I feel like the club is raising costs whenever and however they like, with absolutely no consideration for the people who go to 30-plus games a year. I am not angry about the team trying to make a buck, but this is getting ridiculous. They have one of the lowest salary outputs in the league, the squad will most likely have yet another bottom-five finish, and if/when they get to be decent again, all I know is my seats will go up another 10-30 percent. When does it stop? Is the problem me? — Andrew C. Couldn't have said it any better myself. It'll never stop. And every single one of you (well, at least those without a trust fund) should have reached that point years ago. Nearly every team in every league has made it all but impossible for an average family of four to reasonably attend a game. 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It's just bad screenwriting. It's 'Up' all over again. (Do NOT get me started on 'Up.' You think I'm an insufferable pedant with the 'dynasty' talk …) Who is your 'long-shot' prospect who gets some NHL time this year? — Anthony D. Samuel Savoie. The Blackhawks have a ton of talent in the system. They don't have a ton of sandpaper. Savoie's nasty side could be enough for him to leapfrog a bunch of guys. What did players who had the type of OHL season Nick Lardis had last season do the following year? Did they open in the NHL? How many points did they follow their monster year with? — Joshua T. It's difficult to find a historical trend for Lardis because so few players in the modern era have done what he did last season. Since the turn of the century, only John Tavares (72) has scored more goals in an OHL season than Lardis' 71 last season (thanks to Elite Prospects for the data). Of course, Tavares was 16 when he did that and Lardis was 19, so temper your expectations a bit. 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Washington Post
2 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Kentucky Oaks moves to primetime TV for the first time in 2026
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