Reese’s Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy holds no ill will towards the Ohio State players who withdrew from the annual event after winning the CFP National Championship
There appears to be no bad blood between Jim Nagy and the Ohio State players who pulled themselves out of the Reese’s Senior Bowl.
On Monday, the Buckeyes earned a hard-fought 34-23 win over Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff title game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Only a handful of days later, several of the biggest stars from head coach Ryan Day’s squad were slated to take the field in Mobile, Alabama for the Reese’s Senior Bowl – though this will no longer be the case.
According to The Athletic’s Dane Brugler, multiple players politely declined to compete in the annual event, which gives highly-touted prospects who’ve used up their college eligibility an opportunity to showcase their skills ahead of the NFL Draft.
“Due to the extended season and playoffs for both Ohio State and Notre Dame, several players will not be playing in the Senior Bowl next week (understandably),” Brugler wrote on X. “Among them: Will Howard, Xavier Watts, Donovan Jackson, Jack Sawyer, Ty Hamilton.”
The news hardly came as a surprise to Nagy, who actively serves as executive director of the Reese’s Senior Bowl. In response to Brugler’s tweet, he said: “We anticipated likelihood that players who participated in CFP could/would be too banged up physically to be in Mobile on short six-day window. Had good conversations with all players that Dane listed and wish them well rest of pre-draft process.”
Nagy noted, however, that not all participants in the CFP Championship Game withdrew their names from the contest on Feb. 1. “Conversely, we would like to applaud three @NDFootball prospects – QB Riley Leonard, EDGE R.J. Oben, & LB Jack Kiser – who will be competing at @seniorbowl,” he added.