It hasn’t been a banner month for Ohio State.
The Buckeyes earned a spot in the College Football Playoff, but that was preceded by the most devastating loss of the Ryan Day era, a second straight defeat to Michigan on Nov. 26. Since then, Ohio State signed a top-10 nationally-ranked recruiting class, but much of the focus on National Signing Day centered around what the Buckeyes didn’t achieve in the 2023 cycle.
Between missing on top five-star targets, multiple decommitments and speculation surrounding perceived NIL shortcomings, the Buckeyes have seen better days when it comes to good favor with the fan base. But things could certainly be worse, considering the opportunity still at hand for Ohio State this season, and Ryan Day can’t afford to think the sky is falling.
“We're not gonna overreact. As much that (Michigan) loss hurts, we're not gonna overreact on it. It's not worth it,” Day said during his signing day press conference Wednesday. “We have a game against Georgia ahead of us that we're focusing on. We're hammering recruiting and looking to adapt to what's going on across the country. And I know that the program is in a great place even though we did lose that game and it hurts. I mean, that's our goal every year, you can't walk away from it. But at the end of the day, we have some really good people in this program. We have really good talent, really good coaches and recruit really good people.”
At Ohio State, the standards are about as high as they get. Day himself has publicly set the bar on numerous occasions, laying out three goals for his program year in and year out: Beat Michigan, win the Big Ten and take home the national championship. Day accomplished two of those in his first season with a CFP bid to boot. He didn’t have a chance to beat Michigan in 2020, but the Buckeyes got one step closer to a national title with a berth in the championship game.
Last year, Ohio State failed on all three fronts, and it runs the risk of doing the same this season. A win over Georgia would go a long way toward washing out the bad taste in fans’ mouths, and a national championship win – especially in a rematch victory over the Wolverines – would absolve all sin.
“Years and seasons and life doesn't always go the way you plan. It's about how you react to it and how you respond to it. And that's what our focus is on right now.”– Ryan Day
Those possibilities are still on the table, but given Ohio State’s opponent in the Peach Bowl, even one win in the CFP will be an uphill battle. Day knows he’s fallen short of his own primary objectives the past two seasons, but he also believes there are some silver linings amid the frustration.
“We all have certain expectations and we all have goals. And when you don't reach those goals, you have to identify what those things are to get them addressed,” Day said. “But also, when you go through times like this too, you recognize first off the things you gotta get better at. But also it gives you a really good idea of where everybody's at in the program and kind of where you stand. Because when things are going well, everybody's with you. And when something goes wrong, you kind of find out where people stand. And so I think we have a pretty good feel for that right now.”
Had Ohio State beat Michigan, won the Big Ten and cruised into the CFP with an undefeated record and favorable semifinal matchup, its subsequent signing day would have likely seen far less scrutiny. After all, the Buckeyes’ 2019 class only ranked 14th in the nation, per the 247Sports composite, while the 2023 group ranks sixth.
But the 2019 class still had more top-end talent, with three five-star prospects (Zach Harrison, Garrett Wilson and Harry Miller) to Ohio State’s one in 2023 (Brandon Inniss). Ohio State struck out on all three of its top defensive end targets (five-star pass rushers Matayo Uiagalelei, Keon Keeley and Damon Wilson), top safety target Caleb Downs and top linebacker target Tackett Curtis in this cycle. Not to mention, four-star cornerbacks Dijon Johnson and Kayin Lee both flipped after initially committing to Ohio State, and lone 2023 running back Mark Fletcher left the Buckeyes without an RB in the class after reopening his recruitment last month.
Tack on the loss of No. 1 overall 2024 prospect Dylan Raiola, who decommited from the program last week, and Ohio State seems to have piled up more recruiting losses in the last several weeks than any stretch in recent memory.
Of course, the proliferation of NIL opportunities – and lack of rule enforcement from the NCAA – likely played a role in some, if not all of those situations. When you couple the string of recruiting misses with athletic director Gene Smith’s recent statement imploring fans to support three NIL collectives via donations for student-athletes, it’s easy to see where fans would get the notion that Ohio State is falling behind on the recruiting trail.
Ohio State AD Gene Smith puts out a statement welcoming "your help in keeping Ohio State at the top of the college athletics landscape."
— Griffin Strom (@GriffinStrom3) December 8, 2022
Smith includes links to three NIL collectives that are "seeking additional support." pic.twitter.com/c8yoSItKCO
It’s no easy climate for a college football program to navigate, but as Day said Wednesday, the Buckeyes must adapt to the ever-changing landscape.
“There are a lot of things going on out there that I know it's hard for guys to walk away from. And we're doing everything we can to make sure we're focused on doing the right thing,” Day said. “And our guys understand that, knowing that there's great opportunity for these guys. And there's going to continue to be great opportunity for these guys. But nowadays there's a lot of flexibility for players.”
Day praised several of his 2023 signees for staying loyal to the Buckeyes despite many attempts to be swayed elsewhere in the days leading up to signing day, and said the prospects who elected to honor their verbal commitments showed they truly want to be at Ohio State. Despite having just one five-star, Ohio State’s fewest in a recruiting class since 2016, the Buckeyes still possess the third-highest rating per recruit in the country in 2023.
Day also pointed to the sparing amount of transfers out of the Buckeye program, just three since the end of the regular season, as a positive indicator about the culture at Ohio State.
“When you look at the 19 guys we brought in here (who had signed with Ohio State at the time of Day’s press conference), these are some of the best players in the country. And these guys understand what's going on here, and they understand what an unbelievable culture we have here,” Day said. “You see a lot of transfers going on, everything like that. You look at our team, there's really not a lot of that going on. Why? I think it's because we have a strong culture here. Guys appreciate the way that they're being developed and everything like that.”
Day’s not pretending this season, and the past month in particular, has played out the way he hoped. For now, he’s trying to dial in on the chance to right the wrongs in the upcoming contest. If those results are equally underwhelming, though, it’s hard to imagine critics will be any less forgiving.
“Years and seasons and life doesn't always go the way you plan. It's about how you react to it and how you respond to it,” Day said. “And that's what our focus is on right now.”
