Throughout his tenure as Ohio State’s head coach, Ryan Day’s approach to adding transfers has been consistent: Only when he believes a player will be an upgrade at a position of need and when he is confident that player will fit the team’s culture off the field.
Even with more players in the transfer portal now than ever, those criteria haven’t changed.
Nine days since the opening of the post-regular season transfer window, there hasn’t been a ton of news surrounding Ohio State and potential transfer targets so far. 247Sports’ Steve Wiltfong reported last week that Ohio State is pursuing transferring Virginia cornerback Fentrell Cypress II, and former Maryland tight end CJ Dippre told 247Sports over the weekend that he is looking at taking an official visit to Ohio State. Former Rhode Island offensive lineman Ajani Cornelius announced Wednesday that he received an offer from the Buckeyes.
Blessed to say Ive received an offer from The Ohio State University@ryandaytime @CoachJFrye @CoachReedLive pic.twitter.com/tAAYvyXHyC
— Ajani Cornelius (@AJCornelius65) December 14, 2022
Early indications, though, have been that the Buckeyes are being very selective about which transfers they will recruit.
That’s not to say Ohio State’s coaches and player personnel staff haven’t been keeping a constant eye on who’s entering the portal. Day laughed when asked Tuesday how he’s balancing the transfer portal with preparing for the College Football Playoff and trying to wrap up the 2023 recruiting class ahead of next week’s early signing period, saying “you're not allowed to sleep” and indicating the Buckeyes have been persistently evaluating portal entrants.
“We're certainly looking at everybody and having guys on visits and things like that,” Day said. “We're always looking at it to see if it makes sense.”
NCAA D1 Council vs Personnel Departments today pic.twitter.com/EK4M1xlxup
— Mark Pantoni (@markpantoni) December 6, 2022
Because transfers are only becoming more prevalent in college football, Day acknowledged Ohio State has had to constantly rethink its approach to the transfer portal. While Ohio State has not taken more than three scholarship transfers in any year since Day became head coach, he indicated Tuesday that he is open to the possibility of bringing in a higher number of transfers this year or in the future.
| Year | Number | Players |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 3 | Justin Fields, Jonah Jackson, Gunnar Hoak |
| 2020 | 1 | Trey Sermon |
| 2021 | 2 | Noah Ruggles, Palaie Gaoteote IV |
| 2022 | 3 | Tanner McCalister, Chip Trayanum, Parker Lewis |
The Buckeyes aren’t going to do so haphazardly, though.
“If we had 10 to 12 to 15 guys entering the portal and we had to replace those guys, then certainly we would consider that. But you know, when we're signing 20 high school players every year and we don’t have a lot of guys leaving the program, there's not a lot of room for that,” Day said. “To say we're just gonna go recruit 15 transfer guys and bring them in just to say we're bringing in 15 transfer guys? No, we're not going to do that. But every year, maybe you take one, maybe you take five, maybe you take 10. I don't know. We'll have to continually figure that out on a year-to-year basis.
“But to sit here and say I just think we're gonna go out and start recruiting a bunch of guys in the portal, philosophically, it would have to make sense for the roster. Which I’m not against, it's just only if we think it's an upgrade and the right fit.”
Day takes pride in having a program that doesn’t have as much attrition through outgoing transfers as many other teams, and that’s one reason why the Buckeyes haven’t brought in a large number of incoming transfers. Whether that remains the case after the season concludes could determine how many transfers Ohio State brings in for 2023, but so far, the Buckeyes have had only three players enter the portal (Jantzen Dunn, Jaylen Johnson and Teradja Mitchell) since the entry window opened.
There are positions where the Buckeyes might need to hit the portal depending on who enters the 2023 NFL draft, such as the offensive line, where Ohio State could lose up to four starters from this season as Paris Johnson Jr., Luke Wypler, Matt Jones and Dawand Jones are all draft-eligible. One thing Day says the Buckeyes aren’t going to do, however, is promise starting jobs to any transfers, believing that would send the wrong message to the players who are already on the team.
“It's very difficult to just walk into Ohio State and our culture and just walk onto the field, because there's a lot of pride here and guys have to earn their right to get on the field. So certainly if there's something that we can do in terms of upgrade in a certain position, we'll always do that, that's our job. But we'll also take into consideration the right culture fit, the right fit for them, the expectation,” Day said. “If somebody comes into the program, they know they're gonna have to earn their right to get on the field. We're not just going to guarantee when you come here, you're going to do this, you're gonna get this many touches or you're gonna start the minute you walk into that locker room. I don't know how folks do that, and then look at the players currently on the roster and say, ‘I just guaranteed someone to come in and be a starter.’”
More than half of the transfers Ohio State has brought in since Day became head coach have become starters within their first year as Buckeyes (Justin Fields, Jonah Jackson, Trey Sermon, Noah Ruggles and Tanner McCalister), and that’s a reflection of the quality-over-quantity approach the Buckeyes have taken to transfer additions. Whether the Buckeyes should be more aggressive in the portal going forward remains a valid question, as the number of players entering the portal who could potentially help Ohio State increases every year.
Still, Day views the portal as a means of filling needs rather than a way to build the foundation of a program. He thinks Ohio State must continue to prioritize recruiting and developing players from the high school ranks. But he says Ohio State will always consider options from the portal when a need emerges.
“If you feel like you're healthy in one spot, whether with the talent, with culture, then you don't need to make a change just to make a change. But if there's a hole in a certain area, you gotta get it fixed. And how do you do that? Do you get it fixed through high school recruits, or do you get it fixed through the portal?” Day said. “So those are really the two things you try to identify: Do you have enough talent there physically, and then where's the culture and where's the fit? Because somebody who fits at Ohio State maybe doesn't fit in somewhere else and vice versa. I think it's very, very important to understand what it means to be a Buckeye. And then just the culture of the team. Understanding what's important here and how we do things. So I think you look at those two things and if it needs to change, then you change it. You're constantly identifying it and trying to get it better.”
“To say we're just gonna go recruit 15 transfer guys and bring them in just to say we're bringing in 15 transfer guys? No, we're not going to do that. But every year, maybe you take one, maybe you take five, maybe you take 10.”– Ryan Day on Ohio State’s transfer portal approach
Because the Buckeyes have been successful for the most part in identifying transfers who will both help them on the field and mesh with the team culturally, Day doesn’t see a need for Ohio State to drastically change the way it’s approaching the portal. But he recognizes the Buckeyes must be able to adapt as the transfer portal’s impact on college football continues to increase.
“We have added guys, and I think we've done a really good job of being thoughtful in those areas,” Day said. “But certainly the transfer portal’s gotten bigger and bigger and bigger, and it's become like free agency. So it's something that we're gonna be a part of.”
