This week's episode of Real Pod Wednesdays features a brand new co-host and an exclusive interview with Ohio State's head football coach.

As the newest beat writer at Eleven Warriors, Griffin Strom is also the new co-host of Real Pod Wednesdays, so we start the show – the 101st episode ever of Real Pod Wednesdays – by introducing Griffin to our audience.

Dan sat down with Ryan Day for a one-on-one interview in his office on Tuesday morning, and we also play that interview for you in its entirety on this week's episode of Real Pod Wednesdays. In a 16-minute conversation (beginning at 3:53), Dan talks to Day about the lessons Ohio State has learned from dealing with COVID-19 over the past year, how he's handling the national championship expectations entering his third year as the Buckeyes’ coach, the culture he's tried to build within Ohio State's program, why this year's freshman class could be special and more.

After that interview, Griffin returns to discuss all of the latest developments within the Ohio State football program, including C.J. Stroud officially becoming the starting quarterback (24:15), the lingering questions about the back seven of the Buckeyes’ defense (32:45) and the six players who were named captains for this season (45:20).

We also talk about the alliance between the Big Ten, Pac-12 and ACC (49:57) that was announced by the three conferences on Tuesday, and Dan explains why he's not sure whether playing annual non-conference games against the ACC and Pac-12 would actually be a good thing for Ohio State's future schedules.

Coming next week: A preview of Ohio State's first game of the season against Minnesota.