December 23, 2025 • 9 mins
Bill Rabinowitz covered Ohio State football for years for The Columbus Dispatch. His book detailing OSU's 2024 national title run is titled Buckeye Brotherhood, and he joined Mo to discuss it and Ohio State's 2025 title chances on ESPN1530.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is this is our last show before Christmas, and
you know things. I didn't want things to end on
a sour note. Fortunately, we have tracked down our friend
Bill Rabinowitz, whose book Buckeye Brotherhood outlines the inside story
behind last year's twenty twenty four Ohio State National Championship
football team. Bill covered Ohio state sports for years for
(00:24):
the Columbus Dispatch, now for his substack Bill on the Buckeyes.
The book is terrific. Bill is terrific. He's with us now, Hi, Bill, Hello,
how are you. I'm well, it's awesome to have you.
I'm thinking, like fifty three weeks ago, you know, Ryan
Day is getting set to coach in the College Football Playoff.
He's just lost to Michigan. It feels like the walls
(00:46):
are closing in. He's coaching for his job and he
has since won a national title. They're the odds on
favorite to win another one he beats Michigan. The Michigan
programs in tatters. What a difference twelve twelve months and
a week make.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Yeah, it is crazy to think how things changed. I mean,
I think everyone went to that Tennessee game thinking, you know,
which team's going to show up.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Are they going to mail it in? Or are they
going to come out inspired?
Speaker 2 (01:10):
And they blew the doors down and then rolled through
the playoffs in one of the great turnarounds in college
football history. I mean, they were as low as a
team can get after losing in Michigan, because all those
guys came back primarily to beat Michigan. You know, oh yeah,
they wanted to win the national championship, but that was
the most immediate goal is to beat Michigan. When they
lost that game, inexplicably, they're like, what do we come
(01:32):
back for? Then they had the you know, team meeting.
It's kind of become famous, and then they went on
that role and yeah, it's crazy, and you think about
what's happened in Michigan since then, and look, that's it
was kind of in some ways a.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Bit of a house of cards there, right especially after
Harball left. And it is sad.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Because obviously there's you know, the human the toll it
has taken, but the boy, it's the programs are on
different footings right now.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
About brotherhood and football, and sometimes it can sound cliche.
I actually talked with Patrick Hurt, who played for the
Bearcats this year was on that Ohio State team and
outline just for me, you know how how legitimate and
real that was. That is I think one of the
it's the central theme of your book. You've been around
a lot of Ohio State teams. Was this the most
close knit one?
Speaker 2 (02:21):
I think so, just because they've been through so much together.
You know, they stayed for four years, which is pretty unusual.
And honestly, if you had asked me at the start
of the process of writing the book whether I would
have a title like Buckeye Brotherhood, I probably would have
said no, because it seems like a cliche. Right Every
team is, oh, we're a family, We're so close, or
so this, and usually it's it's kind of a this
(02:43):
is not really the truth. But these guys were, I mean,
and and time after time that brotherhood sustained them. And
as I kept doing their research and writing this, it
just was obvious that that had to be the title,
because that was that's what it was. I mean, you
can kind of roll your eyes at it, which is
the temptation, but it was real and I think that's
what carried the day for them. That's really what got
(03:05):
him through it. That and the fact they were really
talented too. I mean, don't overlook that they were really talented.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
That that brotherhood, if you will, it's hard to achieve
in the old way the college football was played. I
think that's what stands out to me, right and in
this era where you're you're seeing coaches across sports have
a hard time, you know, cobbling together teams and building
culture and and and keeping it keeping it going from
one year to the next, I think to me, and
you're much closer to it than I am. Obviously, that's
(03:32):
what made what they had last year stand out.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Again, you know, these guys could have gone to the NFL,
could have made you know, look, they got nil money.
It's not like they were, you know, poor, but they
could have in some cases made a considerably uh you know,
bigger amount and gotten closer to the second contract that
every NFL player, every football player once. But they they
just felt like it was unfinished business. That they couldn't
(03:58):
in good conscience leave Ohio State without having beaten Michigan
and making a run at the national championship, and and
to have the adversity that they did, to have, you know,
to have lost Oregon in October, which was a tough loss,
but not devastating, But then to lose to Michigan was devastating.
It was not a good Michigan team and and they
did not expect nobody expected that. I don't think Michigan expected,
(04:20):
you know, that that outcome. So yeah, that was that
was a big.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Part of it.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
But also, and I think the heart of the book
is the are the personal stories that I that I
really tried to dig deep and get to Ryan Day's background.
I mean, you know, most Peolho State fans know that
his father died by suicide when he was eight. You
know just what that impact was on his life, and
and that was kind of the first chapter of the book.
And then there are other players, you know stories. Jack
(04:48):
Sawyer has a had an arc to his story where
a five star guy from Pickerington, a suburb of Columbus,
and his career was just kind of okay until the end.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
Of his junior year. Senior year.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
He wanted to make a big splash and he was
one minute late to a workout and thought that he'd
blown his chance to be a captain, you know, and
he obviously makes the most famous player of the season.
That's the cover shot of the book is the Sawyer
scoop and score against Texas. And I've got a whole
chapter on just that one play, just what dissecting it
(05:21):
from every angle, what he saw, what coaches saw, what
players and coaches and Ross by York the ad what
they experienced watching that play. I mean, that's that's kind
of one of the fun chapters of the book is
his people reliving that play. But the heart of the
book is just the stories of these players, one after
the other, who overcame adversity, whether it was injuries or
(05:43):
whether it was not feeling like their career had gone
the way they wanted it to.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
That was kind of that's the essence of the book.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Buckeye Brotherhood. How Ohio State navigated a new world to
win a national championship. Bill Robinowitz, if if you are
thinking of a very last minute gift for an Ohio
State fan, highly recommend really quick. With the college football
Playoff quarterfinal looming, how much should the performance against Indiana's
(06:14):
defense in the Big Ten title game give folks pauses
they look ahead to next I guess next Wednesday night.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Well we'll find out, But I do think it could
be a blessing in disguise.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
I think that day that was kind of a weird week.
It was signing day.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
They Brian Hartline took the South Florida job. They had
to try to hold onto Chris Henry Junior, of course,
the son of the former Bengal receiver.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
It's weird.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
I covered Chris Henry Senior as a Bengal for the Dispatch,
and now we covered Chris Henry Junior. I saw him
at a recruiting thing last year or camping last year,
and I total, man, he was, oh man.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
You're old. But kind of a weird week. And yes,
I think that they probably it will.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Probably help them to be humbled some and and realize
that they're not invincible.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
But they have to fix some things too.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
You know, the offensive line did not play well in
that game, and they've got to get some things sticked.
But I'm not convinced that Jeremiah Smith or Carnell Tate
was all that healthy in that game.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
I think it. You know, we'll see. Look, you'd never know.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Last year all the teams they had to buy lost.
Now some of those were the teams that probably shouldn't
have gotten buy. But you know, there is that concern,
and Miami is talented enough to beat them, and I'm
not sure that they have been consistent enough and they've.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Got some holes. But but you know, that's going to
be an interesting game. We'll see.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Look and probably to answer a question you might be thinking,
or somebody might be thinking, no, I do not have
plans to write another book.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Championship.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
You write a book. That's how it works.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
That's it's a little tough, you know, doing a book
in four months with the level of reporting that I
that I do is. I don't think mentally or physically
I can do that back to back years, but but
I do. Ohio State fans follow me on substack Bill
Rabinowitz dot substack dot com. That you know, I left
the Dispatch in September on very good terms. It was
(08:12):
my decision strictly. I've just been looking for something different
and substack gives me freedom to write, you know, covered
team the way I've always wanted to do it. Yeah, yeah,
I am charging. I mean you could get a free subscription,
but I obviously you know what pays. The bills are a
paid subscription. So I appreciate if people would do that,
you know, and I want to keep doing what I do.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
And so.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Yeah, it's been a weird year because they didn't really
have much of a regular season that was that had
any drama. I mean it was Texas at the beginning
and Issue at the end, and not much in the middle.
But now it heats up, you know, now it gets interesting.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
No question. Bill on the Buckeye Substack and Buckeye Brotherhood available.
As we say, Bill, where you get your books. Appreciate
the time, man, have a great Christmas. Thanks so much.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
All right, thanks man, I appreciate it.
This is this is our last show before Christmas, and
you know things. I didn't want things to end on
a sour note. Fortunately, we have tracked down our friend
Bill Rabinowitz, whose book Buckeye Brotherhood outlines the inside story
behind last year's twenty twenty four Ohio State National Championship
football team. Bill covered Ohio state sports for years for
(00:24):
the Columbus Dispatch, now for his substack Bill on the Buckeyes.
The book is terrific. Bill is terrific. He's with us now, Hi, Bill, Hello,
how are you. I'm well, it's awesome to have you.
I'm thinking, like fifty three weeks ago, you know, Ryan
Day is getting set to coach in the College Football Playoff.
He's just lost to Michigan. It feels like the walls
(00:46):
are closing in. He's coaching for his job and he
has since won a national title. They're the odds on
favorite to win another one he beats Michigan. The Michigan
programs in tatters. What a difference twelve twelve months and
a week make.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Yeah, it is crazy to think how things changed. I mean,
I think everyone went to that Tennessee game thinking, you know,
which team's going to show up.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Are they going to mail it in? Or are they
going to come out inspired?
Speaker 2 (01:10):
And they blew the doors down and then rolled through
the playoffs in one of the great turnarounds in college
football history. I mean, they were as low as a
team can get after losing in Michigan, because all those
guys came back primarily to beat Michigan. You know, oh yeah,
they wanted to win the national championship, but that was
the most immediate goal is to beat Michigan. When they
lost that game, inexplicably, they're like, what do we come
(01:32):
back for? Then they had the you know, team meeting.
It's kind of become famous, and then they went on
that role and yeah, it's crazy, and you think about
what's happened in Michigan since then, and look, that's it
was kind of in some ways a.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Bit of a house of cards there, right especially after
Harball left. And it is sad.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Because obviously there's you know, the human the toll it
has taken, but the boy, it's the programs are on
different footings right now.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
About brotherhood and football, and sometimes it can sound cliche.
I actually talked with Patrick Hurt, who played for the
Bearcats this year was on that Ohio State team and
outline just for me, you know how how legitimate and
real that was. That is I think one of the
it's the central theme of your book. You've been around
a lot of Ohio State teams. Was this the most
close knit one?
Speaker 2 (02:21):
I think so, just because they've been through so much together.
You know, they stayed for four years, which is pretty unusual.
And honestly, if you had asked me at the start
of the process of writing the book whether I would
have a title like Buckeye Brotherhood, I probably would have
said no, because it seems like a cliche. Right Every
team is, oh, we're a family, We're so close, or
so this, and usually it's it's kind of a this
(02:43):
is not really the truth. But these guys were, I mean,
and and time after time that brotherhood sustained them. And
as I kept doing their research and writing this, it
just was obvious that that had to be the title,
because that was that's what it was. I mean, you
can kind of roll your eyes at it, which is
the temptation, but it was real and I think that's
what carried the day for them. That's really what got
(03:05):
him through it. That and the fact they were really
talented too. I mean, don't overlook that they were really talented.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
That that brotherhood, if you will, it's hard to achieve
in the old way the college football was played. I
think that's what stands out to me, right and in
this era where you're you're seeing coaches across sports have
a hard time, you know, cobbling together teams and building
culture and and and keeping it keeping it going from
one year to the next, I think to me, and
you're much closer to it than I am. Obviously, that's
(03:32):
what made what they had last year stand out.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Again, you know, these guys could have gone to the NFL,
could have made you know, look, they got nil money.
It's not like they were, you know, poor, but they
could have in some cases made a considerably uh you know,
bigger amount and gotten closer to the second contract that
every NFL player, every football player once. But they they
just felt like it was unfinished business. That they couldn't
(03:58):
in good conscience leave Ohio State without having beaten Michigan
and making a run at the national championship, and and
to have the adversity that they did, to have, you know,
to have lost Oregon in October, which was a tough loss,
but not devastating, But then to lose to Michigan was devastating.
It was not a good Michigan team and and they
did not expect nobody expected that. I don't think Michigan expected,
(04:20):
you know, that that outcome. So yeah, that was that
was a big.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Part of it.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
But also, and I think the heart of the book
is the are the personal stories that I that I
really tried to dig deep and get to Ryan Day's background.
I mean, you know, most Peolho State fans know that
his father died by suicide when he was eight. You
know just what that impact was on his life, and
and that was kind of the first chapter of the book.
And then there are other players, you know stories. Jack
(04:48):
Sawyer has a had an arc to his story where
a five star guy from Pickerington, a suburb of Columbus,
and his career was just kind of okay until the end.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
Of his junior year. Senior year.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
He wanted to make a big splash and he was
one minute late to a workout and thought that he'd
blown his chance to be a captain, you know, and
he obviously makes the most famous player of the season.
That's the cover shot of the book is the Sawyer
scoop and score against Texas. And I've got a whole
chapter on just that one play, just what dissecting it
(05:21):
from every angle, what he saw, what coaches saw, what
players and coaches and Ross by York the ad what
they experienced watching that play. I mean, that's that's kind
of one of the fun chapters of the book is
his people reliving that play. But the heart of the
book is just the stories of these players, one after
the other, who overcame adversity, whether it was injuries or
(05:43):
whether it was not feeling like their career had gone
the way they wanted it to.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
That was kind of that's the essence of the book.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Buckeye Brotherhood. How Ohio State navigated a new world to
win a national championship. Bill Robinowitz, if if you are
thinking of a very last minute gift for an Ohio
State fan, highly recommend really quick. With the college football
Playoff quarterfinal looming, how much should the performance against Indiana's
(06:14):
defense in the Big Ten title game give folks pauses
they look ahead to next I guess next Wednesday night.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Well we'll find out, But I do think it could
be a blessing in disguise.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
I think that day that was kind of a weird week.
It was signing day.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
They Brian Hartline took the South Florida job. They had
to try to hold onto Chris Henry Junior, of course,
the son of the former Bengal receiver.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
It's weird.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
I covered Chris Henry Senior as a Bengal for the Dispatch,
and now we covered Chris Henry Junior. I saw him
at a recruiting thing last year or camping last year,
and I total, man, he was, oh man.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
You're old. But kind of a weird week. And yes,
I think that they probably it will.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Probably help them to be humbled some and and realize
that they're not invincible.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
But they have to fix some things too.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
You know, the offensive line did not play well in
that game, and they've got to get some things sticked.
But I'm not convinced that Jeremiah Smith or Carnell Tate
was all that healthy in that game.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
I think it. You know, we'll see. Look, you'd never know.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Last year all the teams they had to buy lost.
Now some of those were the teams that probably shouldn't
have gotten buy. But you know, there is that concern,
and Miami is talented enough to beat them, and I'm
not sure that they have been consistent enough and they've.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Got some holes. But but you know, that's going to
be an interesting game. We'll see.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Look and probably to answer a question you might be thinking,
or somebody might be thinking, no, I do not have
plans to write another book.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Championship.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
You write a book. That's how it works.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
That's it's a little tough, you know, doing a book
in four months with the level of reporting that I
that I do is. I don't think mentally or physically
I can do that back to back years, but but
I do. Ohio State fans follow me on substack Bill
Rabinowitz dot substack dot com. That you know, I left
the Dispatch in September on very good terms. It was
(08:12):
my decision strictly. I've just been looking for something different
and substack gives me freedom to write, you know, covered
team the way I've always wanted to do it. Yeah, yeah,
I am charging. I mean you could get a free subscription,
but I obviously you know what pays. The bills are a
paid subscription. So I appreciate if people would do that,
you know, and I want to keep doing what I do.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
And so.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Yeah, it's been a weird year because they didn't really
have much of a regular season that was that had
any drama. I mean it was Texas at the beginning
and Issue at the end, and not much in the middle.
But now it heats up, you know, now it gets interesting.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
No question. Bill on the Buckeye Substack and Buckeye Brotherhood available.
As we say, Bill, where you get your books. Appreciate
the time, man, have a great Christmas. Thanks so much.
Speaker 3 (09:00):
All right, thanks man, I appreciate it.
Mo Egger News
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