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Joel Klatt defends Ohio State & Ryan Day’s hiring Arthur Smith as OC

Published

5 months ago

February 3, 2026

Joel Klatt defends Ohio State & Ryan Day’s hiring Arthur Smith as OC

Ohio State hired former Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith in late January, and the move drew plenty of pushback almost immediately. For a lot of fans, Smith is still defined by his time as head coach in Atlanta, where the Falcons went 7-10 in three straight seasons. After being fired, Smith resurfaced as the Steelers’ OC, where the offense finished 23rd in total offense at 319.4 yards per game and 16th in scoring in 2024, then slipped to 25th in total yards at 305.6 yards per game in 2025.

Still, Ryan Day clearly saw something he liked and moved quickly to bring Smith to Columbus after Pittsburgh’s playoff loss to the Texans. Smith replaces Brian Hartline, who has since taken over as the head coach at USF.

On Monday, Fox Sports analyst and top college football voice Joel Klatt broke down Ohio State’s decision to hire Smith as offensive coordinator.

“I don’t think [OSU head coach] Ryan Day wants to have to worry about, look over the shoulder of, the offense,” Klatt said. “I really don’t. I think that he wants to be able to give the keys to the offense to a guy like Arthur Smith, just like he gave the keys to the defense to a guy like [OSU defensive coordinator] Matt Patricia.

“Now, he can be CEO, and he can worry about evaluating and valuating talent, and then fixing a problem here or there that arose. He was able to do that two years ago when Chip Kelly was the offensive coordinator, and he jumped in on the defensive side and allowed them to make some changes that ultimately led to a national championship. Last year, he was never really able to do that.”

Klatt makes some strong points, and with Matt Patricia returning in 2026, he sees Smith having a similar immediate impact on the Buckeyes’ offense. The idea is simple: Day doesn’t have to step in and help. Being a head coach is hard enough, and when one side of the ball demands more attention than it should, things can start slipping elsewhere.

Now, I’m not going to sit here and say the Ohio State offense was bad last season, because it wasn’t. There were, however, some growing pains and small details that needed to be cleaned up. Hartline is an elite recruiter and helped guide Ohio State to a top 26 finish in total offense, but it still felt like there was another level to reach. Because of Hartline departing for USF, Day stepped in to call plays during the CFP game against Miami, and it wasn’t all that inspiring. With Arthur Smith coming in, you get stability. You get a coach who has been around the block and won’t flinch when the lights are brightest, even if his NFL numbers don’t jump off the page.

Klatt sees it the same way.

“[Ryan Day] knows what the blueprint looks like, and he can free himself up to be the CEO of the organization. In that respect, this all makes a lot of sense,” Klatt said. “Arthur Smith is going to have a veteran quarterback in Julian Sayin, the best wide receiver in college football in Jeremiah Smith, a 1,000-yard running back, most of his offensive line back—should be a really good offense. And, an offense that, in theory, could control the line of scrimmage and really do some damage up front.”

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Ohio

Ohio Chamber wrong. Vivek Ramaswamy’s love of money won’t create jobs here | Letters

Published

5 hours ago

July 18, 2026

Press Room

Ohio Chamber wrong. Vivek Ramaswamy’s love of money won’t create jobs here | Letters

(Ramaswamy’s) track record, his priorities and the way he has lived his professional life all indicate that he measures success by the money he has earned.

Vivek Ramaswamy isn’t a job creator

The Ohio Chamber of Commerce has endorsed Vivek Ramaswamy for governor as the candidate who can bring high paying jobs to Ohio.

So, let’s look at his performance.

One of his start-ups was Roivant Sciences. In 2024, its revenue declined by 46.6%. In 2025, its revenues declined by 11.2%. For the 12 months ending March 31, 2026, revenues declined by 71.6%. Companies that have falling revenues don’t hire a lot of people.

To be fair, a number of spinoff companies were created fromhttps://strive.com/story Roivant. And this start-up gamble did payoff well for the candidate. But the goal was never job creation. Rather, it was enrichment for the founder followed by moving on.

A more recent venture is Strive Asset Management. Its stated objective is an anti-DEI, Bitcoin-based focus on investment and asset management. Again, there is no evidence of any focus on “high paying job creation” except for the founders.

That being accomplished, the candidate moved on.

There is no denying that Ramaswamy is an extremely intelligent, risk taking and wealthy individual. But, his track record, his priorities and the way he has lived his professional life all indicate that he measures success by the money he has earned.

His opponent, Amy Acton, is demonstrably poorer.

In contrast, she can measure her success by the people she has served. Governing is not a business based on moving on. It is not a profession for people who know the price of everything and the value of nothing. Governing is grounded in public service and in staying with the people you serve.

My first hope is that everyone who is eligible to vote in November does, indeed, vote. My second hope is that we choose a governor who cares for people more than money.

David Gobey, Columbus

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Ohio

Humane agents removing chickens from Youngstown property

Published

17 hours ago

July 17, 2026

Press Room

Humane agents removing chickens from Youngstown property

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — First News is working to learn more information after officers served a search warrant Friday afternoon for a building at the corner of Market Street and Pasadena Avenue

When we showed up to the scene, we found Animal Charity of Ohio had humane agents there.

We could also hear what sounded like roosters crowing, and eventually we saw humane agents bringing out several chickens and roosters in cages from the property. Authorities said they removed approximately 30 pairs of roosters and hens.

That brought us to a residence on Glenwood Avenue near the corner of Stadium Street.

So far, we aren’t hearing anything, but a number of officers and humane agents seemed to be knocking on the front door, and seemingly no one answered.

They then all moved behind the house, and one was an officer carrying a sledgehammer and a crowbar. So far we haven’t heard or seen any action.

First News will update this story as we learn more.

Nick Rich contributed to this report.

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Canadian wildfire smoke forces cancellation of several events in northwest Ohio

Published

1 day ago

July 17, 2026

Press Room

Canadian wildfire smoke forces cancellation of several events in northwest Ohio

ROSSFORD, Ohio — Smoke from Canadian wildfires forced the cancellation of three community events Thursday, including a multi-day festival, a weekly farmers market and a summer concert series finale.

Organizers of the Rossford Balloon & Fireworks Fest, the Perrysburg Farmers Market and the Whitehouse Summer Concert Series each cited hazardous air quality conditions as the reason for their decisions.

Rossford Balloon & Fireworks Fest canceled

Rossford city officials and the Rossford Convention & Visitors Bureau Board jointly decided Thursday to cancel the Rossford Balloon & Fireworks Fest, which was scheduled to run July 17-19.

The Visitors Bureau’s director Beth Genson said in a statement: “The decision to cancel the 2026 Rossford Balloon & Fireworks Fest was made jointly by City officials and the Rossford Convention & Visitors Bureau Board after careful consideration of the hazardous air quality conditions caused by smoke from the Canadian wildfires. The health and safety of our attendees, volunteers, vendors, performers and staff was our highest priority. We recognize how disappointing this is for our community and visitors, but we believe cancelling the event was the responsible decision under these circumstances.”

Perrysburg farmers market, Whitehouse concert also called off

The Perrysburg Chamber of Commerce canceled Thursday’s farmers market in historic downtown Perrysburg. The chamber’s director of tourism Sally Moore said: “The health and safety of our vendors, customers, volunteers, and staff is our top priority. Based on the current hazardous air quality conditions and the guidance we received, we believe cancellation is the safest course of action.”

In Whitehouse, the final performance of the summer concert series at Whitehouse Village Park was also canceled Thursday out of concern for the safety of concertgoers. A spokesman for the series said organizers are hoping to reschedule the final performance in August or September.

Health experts advise staying indoors

Dr. David Geisinger, a pediatric emergency medicine physician, said residents should limit time outdoors while smoke remains in the area.

“We all need to be extra careful, but the children especially, younger kids, anybody with asthma, chronic lung disease, COPD, bronchitis, they would need to be especially careful,” Geisinger said.

Geisinger added that with current air quality index levels, indoor activities are the safer option.

“With this level of air quality index and the smoke, it’s better to do activities that are inside,” he said.

Smoke from the Canadian wildfires was expected to continue affecting air quality into Friday.

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