Area family among the biggest Ohio State fans around

Most of their six grandchildren — all grandsons — know the tradition of chanting O-H-I-O and forming their letters with their arms even though they’re all 5 and under.

The Goods are both Ohio State graduates. Their four kids all graduated from Waynesville High School and Ohio State and have all been involved with the Buckeyes football program, including their daughter Kelly, who was a cheerleader, and their youngest son Michael, who is an associate director of creative media for the football program this season.

The grandsons are a long way from having to pick a college, but the betting money would be on them picking the Buckeyes. The Waynesville family bleeds scarlet and gray.

“There’s a lot of pride,” Leesa said. “We’re really proud of our degrees. It’s not easy to get a degree from there. But it’s not just about football or cheerleading or sports, it’s about the university.”

The family’s love for the university also has much to do with the James Cancer Hospital on campus. Leesa’s brother Jim received a stem cell transplant there that saved his life. Their son in law Jake is now cancer free after being treated for lymphoma at the James last September.

“That’s another reason why we feel so highly about Ohio State,” Leesa said. “They just have so much to offer. We’re proud of our degrees, proud of the football team and proud of our kids for going there and embracing it the way they do. It’s just a lot of fun.”

Everyone in Buckeye Nation has had fun in recent weeks watching the football team win College Football Playoff games against Tennessee, Oregon and Texas. On Monday in Atlanta, Ohio State will play Notre Dame with a chance to win its first national championship since 2015.

Jeff and Leesa will be there because Michael, who will be on shooting video from the sidelines, receives two free tickets. They planned to drive to Texas last week for the Cotton Bowl, but a snow storm in their path prevented them from making the trip.

The Goods missed seeing one of the most legendary plays in Ohio State history — Jack Sawyer’s scoop and score in the final minute — in person, but their son Michael had one of the best views. Michael filmed the play from the far end zone and had the perfect view of Sawyer running down the sideline with players, coaches and fans in the background cheering him every step of the way.

Michael, 26, a 2022 Ohio state graduate, shared his video on X (Twitter) on Sunday, and it had been viewed more than 280,000 times as of Tuesday.

“This year has been awesome because he’s kind of living his dream, growing up a Buckeye graduate,” Jeff said, “and we’re just kind of riding his coattails, going to all the games.”

Credit: Sam Mazzola

Credit: Sam Mazzola

Jeff and Leesa, who have known each other since elementary school. They also are both 1980 Fairmont East graduates. Leesa graduated from Ohio State in 1985. Jeff went to Ohio State later in life after they had kids and completed his degree in 1999.

The oldest Good sons, Dustin, 36, and Tyler, 34, kept the Ohio State tradition going. They both filmed football practices for the coaches during their time at Ohio State. Dustin was at Ohio State for Jim Tressel’s last five seasons. Tyler’s years spanned from the Tressel era to Urban Meyer’s first season as coach in 2012.

Kelly, 31, was a cheerleader in the 2014 season, the last time Ohio State won the national championship.

Jeff and Leesa let their children make their own decisions about college. No one was forced to attend Ohio State. But now they all share that common bond, and they’ll all be rooting hard for the Buckeyes on Monday.

“I think that game against Texas was a blessing in that it was close,” Jeff said, “and I think it brought them back down to earth from the other two games. They showed they can win a close game. That will give them some confidence at the end of a game that they can still pull it out.”