COLUMBUS, Ohio — In his postgame press conference after Ohio State's 30-24 loss to Michigan last November, Buckeyes coach Ryan Day looked defeated and dejected. He knew for sure in that moment that even though he won 88 percent of his games as head coach, he and his program would be defined from now on by an unimaginable three-year losing streak against the Wolverines.
More than four months later, Day, 45, sits in his office at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, smiling, giddy and looking relieved. After bringing back nearly all of Ohio State's juniors who could have turned pro and adding the most proven transfer in the portal, he has the confidence of a coach who knows how deep his roster is. It exudes.
“At Ohio State, we have to beat Team Up North and win every other game,” Day said. “If that's what you expect every year, you're going to like your chances a lot more when you have good players. So you might as well take the best.”
Without the NIL, Day said, “You definitely wouldn't have seen what you saw with us this year.”
After a crushing 14-3 loss to Missouri State in the Cotton Bowl, Ohio State's donors began spending money. With the help of two organizations, the Foundation and the 1870 Association, the program will feature defensive linemen JT Tuimorow, Jack Sawyer and Tyreke Williams, running back Treveyon Henderson, receiver Emeka Egbuka, and cornerback Denzel Burke. , guard Donovan Jackson and all others were “re-signed.” Of these, he was expected to be a first- or second-day draft pick.
“Coming in, our (2021) recruiting class was very strong. We knew we could do something special,” said the five-star signing of his class. said Jackson, one of the six victims. “However, at the end of our three years here, we have not achieved the goals we set. NIL is a controversial topic, but in this case, NIL has given us the motivation to come back and work on it again. It gave me a sense of security.”
With the core of the roster returning, Day entered the portal to fill some remaining holes. His accomplishments include All-Big 12 quarterback Will Howard (Kansas State), All-SEC running back Quinshon Judkins (Ole Miss), and freshman All-American safety Caleb Downs (Alabama). , and experienced center Seth McLaughlin (Alabama).
The backfield tandem of Henderson and Judkins could be especially scary. Together, they have rushed for a total of 5,470 career yards and 63 career TDs.
“We don't decide who goes into the portal,” Day said. “But when the players are there, we want to upgrade the roster in certain areas.”
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Prior to the Dec. 29 bowl game, Ohio State was not considered a major player in the NIL-fueled portal market. In fact, retired AD Gene Smith was one of the NCAA's most vocal critics who called for it to crack down on the organization's involvement in recruiting. This was two months before a federal judge in Tennessee ruled that the NCAA cannot enforce rules that prevent organizations from negotiating NIL deals with recruits.
Even after 2023 starting quarterback Kyle McCord entered the portal immediately after last year's game against Michigan, and third-string freshman Lincoln Kienholz struggled against Missouri, ESPN broadcaster Dave Pash said Day told viewers that Ohio State was adamant not to pursue a rematch. quarterback.
Five days later, Howard, who had previously visited Miami and the University of Southern California, committed to the Buckeyes. When Downs announced his commitment to the Buckeyes from Alabama on Jan. 19, the foundation broke the news on Twitter.
welcome to, @caleb_downs2, our new student-athlete partner! Caleb plans to do great work both on and off the field as a philanthropic partner and ambassador for the Columbus community. (Dawn 😉) https://t.co/htkLB83pbF pic.twitter.com/bNvKx3BPRO
— THE Foundation (@TheFoundation1_) January 20, 2024
Two years ago, Day told the businessmen in the audience that Ohio State needed $13 million in NIL funds to maintain its roster. Nowadays, that budget is considered even higher.
“A lot of people came forward and really helped,” Day said. “Obviously Gene[Smith]is contributing to this, but I've made a lot of calls and a lot of people have pitched in. It shows how great the support is here. .”
With all the personnel in place, Day made another big decision. For the first time in his career, it was about finding a prominent offensive coordinator to call the plays. After his first choice, Bill O'Brien, left in February to become head coach at Boston College, Day called former University of New Hampshire coach Chip Kelly. In a surprising decision, Kelly resigned as head coach at Big Ten-bound UCLA to work under Day. Day worked under Kelly with the Eagles and 49ers before coming to Ohio State in 2018.
“I didn't think about it that way,” said Kelly, 60. He enjoyed returning to his roots when he was coaching UCLA's quarterbacks for a bowl game. “Coaching football makes me happy. It's that easy.
“I didn't want to go into athletics management, but in some places the head coaching job is turning into that job. I'm not good at asking people for money.”
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That's Day's job now.
The results of those fundraisers will be on display Saturday, as Fox will televise Ohio State's spring game for the first time. Viewers will have a chance to check out the quarterback battle between Howard and returning player Devin Brown. They will get their first glimpse of freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith. He shined so brightly during spring training that coaches are already talking about him as a starter.
Smith, the No. 1 recruit in the 2024 class, had been at Ohio State for more than a year, but he caused controversy on the first day of the early signing period last December when he did not sign his letter of intent until that night. . According to the report, the explanation is athletic “Smith's NIL representatives made sure that everything Ohio State promised Smith during the recruiting process was in writing,” Manny Navarro said.
Jeremiah Smith😳 pic.twitter.com/8tG66Yltsn
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) April 6, 2024
But aside from Smith and rising sophomores Downs and receiver Carnell Tate, Ohio State's starting lineup will consist mostly of fourth- and fifth-year players. Players with at least one year of full-time starting experience can fill as many as 17 positions, including nearly the entire defense that finished third in the country last season (allowing 4.2 yards per play). .
These were all intentional pushes by Day.
“We've had talent here in the past, but when you lose a player to the NFL after three years, you can get young quickly,” he said. “I realized over the last few years that while we have talent, we also want experience. I noticed that some of the teams we played against were closer to 21, 22 years old. But I think it’s important.”
He won't say it, but those teams were Michigan teams.
But even with all this talent, there are two question marks for Ohio State. And they probably fill two of the most important positions. One is the offensive line, which struggled at times last season. Returning starter Jackson and tackle Josh Simmons (a 2023 transfer from San Diego State) anchor the left side, but the right side remains in flux.
And then there's the quarterback. Howard started 27 games and led K-State to the 2022 Big 12 Championship, but no one will confuse him with Justin Fields or CJ Stroud. He has yet to beat Brown, who was injured early in his first career game at the Cotton Bowl. But Howard also gives the staff a chance as the program's first true two-way quarterback since Fields in 2020.
“We felt like Will was a really good fit for our team for a number of reasons,” Day said. “I’m looking forward to seeing how he fits into Chip’s offense.”
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In some ways, “Chip's offense” was already Ohio State's offense. It's pretty much the same passing game Day brought with him from Kelly's 49ers when he was hired as OC by Urban Meyer, just with different terminology. Kelly says he found himself sometimes calling plays by the wrong name during practice.
But Kelly's impact should be felt most in the running game. Ohio State's offense, led by Day, has sometimes been criticized for being too sophisticated (hence Lou Holtz's infamous rant after Notre Dame's win last year). Although Kelly is no longer running the Oregon State offense of the early 2010s, his UCLA teams were still synonymous with power rushing attacks. In 2022, with two-way quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson and star tailback Zach Charbonnet behind him, the Bruins led the nation with 6.0 yards per carry.
He will now be working with the likes of Henderson and Judkins.
“I think (Kelly) likes some of the tools that he uses,” Day said with a smile. “Our passing game has been very successful and his run game has been very successful, so when he put the two together, it was a lot of fun.”
Despite all this talent, the generosity of donors and the hire of a splashy offensive coordinator, the bar hasn't been this high for Columbus since the Myers Buckeyes won the 2014 national title. The basic expectation is to end Michigan's drought, but Ohio State needs to reach its first national championship in at least a decade, a task made even more difficult by the 12-team playoffs this season. There is.
“It didn't look like it was broken,” Day said. “To tell you the truth, we have been up and down from achieving our goals for the past two years. It’s unfortunate that we haven’t won against our rivals in recent years, but we are just one game away from Georgia (in the 2022 semifinals). It was a play. We're trying to figure out the last one, two percent. The last few plays.”
And Ohio State spent a lot of money trying to figure out the last few games.
(Photo: Jason Morley/Getty Images)