Throughout the year, we will be asking and answering questions about various Ohio State teams, the players, and anything else on our collective minds of varying degrees of importance. If you have a question that you would like to ask, you can tweet us @LandGrant33 or if you need more than 280 characters, send an email HERE.
Believe it or not, but we are now less than two weeks away from the start of Ohio State’s 2026 spring practice. The Buckeyes will be back on the practice field on Tuesday, March
10, meaning that it is time to transition out of our offseason mindset into football mode again.
But, before we do that, we wanted to run through the results of a recent fan survey that looked at what Buckeye Nation was feeling about how things had gone for OSU following their College Football Playoff elimination. So, check out the two questions and results below, and if you want to share your thoughts, please feel free to do so in the comments at the bottom of the page.
Question 1: What is your top thought on Ohio State hiring Arthur Smith as offensive coordinator?
When Ohio State announced that former Atlanta Falcons head coach and Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith would be the Buckeyes’ new OC, saying that it wasn’t exactly a home run with fans would be generous. Unlike his defensive counterpart in Matt Patricia — who also had a fairly rocky NFL head coaching tenure — Smith doesn’t come with a Super Bowl pedigree.
However, his 17 years of coaching in the NFL are seemingly enough for a majority of Ohio State fans to be on board. While there were some who were not a fan based on what they’ve seen in the league, just the idea of having two former NFL head coaches as your coordinators seems to be exciting for Buckeye Nation.
Personally, if you really want to get me fired up for Arthur Smith’s tenure in Columbus, have him start funneling some of the father’s billions into the team’s NIL efforts.
Question 2: How would you grade Ohio State’s Hot Stove performance in terms of roster retention, transfer additions, coaching staff hires?
Despite the reputation that Buckeye fans have for being overly emotional and illogical, I think this is a very fair approach to what OSU has done during the offseason. While both recruiting and the transfer portal appeared rocky at times, the Buckeyes finished with the No. 2 class in the 2026 cycle’s overall team rankings, so that’s good. They were able to hang onto some important pieces on both offense and defense, and they brought in coaches with experience at both the college and pro levels of football.
Now, personally, I would have still liked to see OSU be more aggressive in the portal along both lines of scrimmage, and maybe for a skill position player or two, but it is hard to argue with the results in terms of roster building. I am still a little apprehensive about some of the coaching staff additions, including Smith and new wide receiver coach Cortez Hankton. I will happily be wrong about both of them (just as I was about Patricia), but my apprehension still keeps me from giving the program an A.
So, like 67% of the fan base, I am giving the team a solid B, which stands for Buckeyes, my friends.
Throughout the year, we ask questions of the most plugged-in Ohio State fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
