Ryan Day didn't need to time on the practice field with J.T. Barrett to figure out what kind of individual Ohio State's quarterbacks coach would be working with in the fifth-year senior and three-time captain.
“Since I've been here, I've been really impressed with the way he's gone about his business. It's like dealing with a pro,” Day said on Tuesday in his first meeting with reporters since the program announced his hire on Jan. 3. “So when you show up to work every day, you better be prepared and you better give him a good plan. He's out here working to get better every day just like everybody else.”
Sound familiar? Offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson, the man Urban Meyer brought in alongside Day to enhance Ohio State's passing attack, said essentially the same thing two weeks ago. Barrett will start at quarterback for the Buckeyes this fall but Day is the man responsible for getting the most out of the Texan to help the Buckeyes re-balance their offense.
“Obviously the best that they've been here, they've been balanced, 250 and 250. That's the goal,” Day said. “We have to make sure that that's a big part of what we do moving forward.”
That echoes what Meyer says whenever given the opportunity, an example of how the head coach's desires trickle down through staff. The first step to creating that starts on Aug. 31 at Indiana in the season opener — and Day is right in the middle of it.
Here are other highlights from his interview session on Tuesday.
- Day said he has studied every snap of football both Barrett and Joe Burrow has played in college. There isn't just one thing Barrett must do to improve, however: “I know that he's working hard with his footwork and working on throwing the ball in the pocket. He's excellent in play-action pass. It's really just building on what he's done so far in his career here.” Day added later that he "constantly" works with Barrett on his footwork and getting the ball out on time.
- So, what exactly was wrong with Ohio State's downfield passing game the last two seasons? “It's easy to just point the finger at J.T. but I think it was a lot of things. When you go back through, you have to improve the protection, you have to improve the route running, you have to improve the throwing the ball, the timing, the spacing, all those things that we're going to work on this spring. It wasn't just one thing.” Day also said he did not feel that Barrett was hesitant or lacked confidence in the pocket when he watched his tape from 2016.
- The deep passing attack is an emphasis already in spring practice because "every year it is." Day: “Obviously when you complete the deep ball, it changes everything. It's not just the quarterback, it's not just the receivers, it's everybody involved in it. But when you can be explosive in the passing game it makes a huge difference.”
- Day's impressions on each quarterback not named J.T. Barrett:
- Joe Burrow: “Very, very impressed. Coach's son, really talented, really smart in the classroom. Can run and can pass. Been really impressed.”
- Dwayne Haskins: “Dwayne, talented. You watch him stand in the pocket and deliver the football, you can see the ball spin off his hands when you watch it. Just really jumps out at you how talented he is.”
- Tate Martell: “Tate's just kind of getting his feet in the ground. Really talented in a different way. The funny thing about those guys, they're all a little bit different. Dwayne is a bit taller guy, can really deliver the ball from the pocket where Tate is more of a run-around guy, make things happen. Joe is kind of a little bit of everything and then J.T., obviously you guys know what he is. All kind of different but all are really hungry to get there.”
- Day said he reached out to Sam Bradford to ask about Wilson once he took the Ohio State job. Both Day and Bradford worked together with the Philadelphia Eagles, and the latter played at Oklahoma when Wilson was offensive coordinator there.
- Day also broke down how Chip Kelly influenced his football coaching career, especially when it pertains to how Meyer wants him to operate at Ohio State: “He wanted me to obviously develop the quarterbacks at a high, high level and coach them just like they're in the NFL. Help continually develop the pass game at a high, high level. Then obviously something that Chip has done in the past that we've done in the past in terms of the tempo and playing really fast, how we call things. That was a big part of the conversation.”
- Day and his wife have three children, ages 8, 6 and 3. Asked if he has a timeframe for his tenure at Ohio State, Day said they bought a house and added, “I would love to be here for a while.”
- Day's ties with Meyer and current Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen since the three worked at Florida in the mid-2000s helped him decide to come to Ohio State: “In 2005 I was at Florida. The connection was Dan Mullen, who grew up in the same hometown that I did. We always stayed friendly and stayed in communication. Coach called me and I would have walked here. It's a great place to be and I'm really lucky to be here ... My wife, we wanted to go to a place that was stable and we couldn't have picked a better place than right here. That's the biggest thing.”
- Just how talented are the four scholarship members of Ohio State's quarterbacks room? “They're talented. Now, it's a matter of when they go to play the game how does that translate. That's what you try to develop as the spring goes along.”
