[Several Ohio State coaches surrounded him and the speaker phone was engaged when an anxious Pickett, then 18, dialed up his parents from Columbus.] I told them, 'I'm going to Ohio State,' ... And there was just silence. They were like, 'Son, come home and let's talk about it.'

When you look at programs like Nebraska, Oklahoma and Florida State and Ohio State and others and you see the retired numbers there, we felt like this was a logical progression that we needed to really consider. We have a great football heritage, and maybe we need to start recognizing that more so.

When you go from speaker to lieutenant governor, it's kind of a letdown, frankly, ... But I worked with (then-Gov.) Jim Thompson and learned a lot from him.

I'm sure I feel like most coaches; I'm just anxious to get started,

It's Notre Dame and Ohio State. You just can't get any better than that.

To rage against the machine of change, leads one to be enraged. To change and rage with it instead, leads one to be engaged.