Jul. 24—INDIANAPOLIS — Ryan Day concluded the first afternoon of interviews at Big Ten Media Days with a 45-minute chat with reporters.
He did not break a lot of new ground for anyone who has interviewed him in the past, but he did offer some insight into his thinking on a few topics.
Here are five things to know:
1. He won’t be picking a quarterback very early in the preseason.
When the Buckeyes formally begin practice next Friday, Day will still have a decision to make at quarterback.
Will Howard, Devin Brown or Lincoln Kienholz? Maybe freshman Julian Sayin or Air Noland?
Day expects to have a better idea after about two weeks of preseason. That will allow everyone to show what they can do after Howard, a transfer from Kansas State, and the freshmen needed to learn the offense during spring ball.
“I think we’ll have a better idea of where everybody is based on their knowledge of the offense,” Day said. “But some guys have really stepped up in the summer.”
2. The Buckeyes need to determine their fastball on offense.
He noted new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly has a a reputation for being a spread offense guru, but he used a lot of heavy formations in recent seasons as head coach at UCLA.
Before helping lead the spread revolution as offensive coordinator then head coach at Oregon from 2007-12, he even ran two-back offenses (like pretty much everyone else at the time).
That means everything is on the table as Ohio State tries to determine how to attack defenses this fall.
“He’s bringing some ideas to the table that are things we hadn’t really considered here, so that’s pretty exciting, but ultimately it’s going to come down to the right plays that fit our guys,” Day said.
“What is our fastball? The best teams and the best offenses are like, ‘This is what we’re running, and you’ve gotta stop us.’ That’s to me what we’ve got to really identify in this preseason and really just hammer home.”
3. The quarterback will run the ball.
But not too much.
“I’m not talking about running ‘quarterback power’ on every play, but having the threat of that,” Day said.
“We have a background of that as well, but I feel like Chip can bring us to the next level. It’s exciting. I think the running backs are excited about it and the offensive line is excited about it. We’re gonna need to do that.”
4. Unfinished business is a theme of the season.
The Buckeyes are favored to win the Big Ten largely because a dozen players who could have gone to the NFL chose not to.
“They felt like they wanted to have something to show for all the hard work they’ve put into the program,” Day said. “But each of them kind of did it on their own.”
5. Future teams might be built a little differently.
Day conceded the days of trying to stack recruiting classes full of four- and five-star classes might be over.
Like NFL teams, colleges might have to spread the wealth among positions and have a maximum they can spend.
“When you sign three guys, you’d like three five-star recruits, but that’s not always going to be the case anymore,” Day said. “So you’ve got to find the right value and the right slots for each guy. Ultimately you’ve gotta have a roster of 85 guys or who know what this is going to look like in the next couple years with the scholarship numbers, but you have to make sure you’re identifying the right people. It’s not just unlimited, so you have to find value at certain positions and sometimes there may be some guys we’re going to bring in that maybe we wouldn’t have brought in in certain years.
“There may be some guys that we may not have recruited who will fit a role of a developmental guy that may not see the field for 2-3 years because maybe his NIL value is lower than somebody else.”
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