Wednesday's press conference with Ryan Day was an odd mix of excitement for the future – despite its uncertainty – and regret for the recent past.
With the arrival of National Signing Day, Ohio State signed one of the elite recruiting classes in college football, currently No. 3 in the 247Sports composite team rankings. The Buckeyes added another four-star running back prospect in Anthony "Turbo" Rogers, and Day praised the work of new assistants Matt Guerrieri, James Laurinaitis and Carlos Locklyn on the trail.
Reflecting on the loss to Michigan, however, Day felt the result is on him, first and foremost, for not having his team in the right position to win. He felt the offense played poorly "across the board" but especially in the red zone. Despite four straight rivalry game losses, though, Day said he remains confident in himself and expects to be Ohio State's coach in 2025.
On Recruiting
- On the 2025 recruiting class: “I think it’s got a chance to be one of the best classes in the country. … This is a new age in recruiting, there are things up until yesterday, this morning, that have been offered to these guys. … I think these guys have built a lot of camaraderie.”
- Day doesn’t like where Ohio State stands in offensive line recruiting but does like the three prospects that signed. “That’s the one area there that we’ve gotta make sure that we’re moving forward into the next two weeks, addressing. … All three of those guys we feel great about, but at the end of the day we’ve gotta make sure that we have the numbers that we need.”
- Jayvon McFadden will play tackle for the Buckeyes while Carter Lowe can factor in at tackle or guard to start their careers, Day said.
- Day feels that there are freshmen in the class who can contribute right away. “I think it depends on the position and the individual, what Jeremiah (Smith) has done is extraordinary, but I do think there are some guys that can come in and play.”
- On five-star quarterback signee Tavien St. Clair: “First off, he’s from Bellefontaine, Ohio, that’s important. … He just continued to improve and continued to grow and just saw some traits in him that were unique. … You can see the leadership skills in him.”
- On managing expectations for St. Clair: “It’s going to be normal for him. … That’s really the case for a lot of these guys, but being the quarterback in the state of Ohio is different.”
- On how the new assistants recruited their positions: “I’m really impressed with our linebacker corps here. … I think James (Laurinaitis) has done a great job. … I think (Carlos Locklyn) has done a great job as well. … Those are three upgrades there at running back and also building some depth. … Matt (Guerrieri) also, when you see his evaluation (at safety) … all three of those guys are excellent.”
- Day felt tight ends coach Keenan Bailey did a great job with his tight end class as well. “Everybody in the country was after Nate (Roberts), especially this past week, but he wanted to be a Buckeye through and through. … Brody (Lennon) is very talented. … We need those kind of guys to come in and make an impact early on.”
- Day said Ohio State brought in some different types of athletes on the defensive line because it may want to change some things up with its front in the future. “I think all these guys can make a difference early on in the process. … We wanted to bring in some guys with different skill sets that may not fit the prototype of the guys we’ve seen in the past.”
- On Anthony “Turbo” Rogers: “Lock has known him for a while. … The more hybrid guys you can bring in late in the season that can do different things is going to be valuable.”
- Day is “excited” about the wide receiver haul. “Quincy (Porter) is a different style than we’ve had … we loved his film going into last year. … You saw the season he had for Bergen Catholic last year. … He’s a big, physical guy.” Day also had glowing remarks for Phillip Bell and called Bodpegn Miller a “wildcard.”
- On who the leaders of the class were: “On offense it was Tavien, I think Carter Lowe was also solid in this thing. … On the defensive side, Devin, and also his parents as well. … Faheem (Delane) was in the middle of that. … We had a great group of guys from Ohio who stuck together.”
- On Lowe: “He’s got good feet … tough, physical. … But I think he can play a couple different positions … we’re thinking that he can play a couple of different positions.”
On the Michigan loss and moving forward
- Reflecting on the Michigan loss: “I feel like the defense played excellent. … From the Oregon game on, the adjustments that were made worked. … We could have done a better job getting the ball to the perimeter. … The offense didn’t work across the board. … I think one of the key trends of the game, you get to the red zone five times and you only get 10 points. … Ultimately that comes back to me as the head coach. … But when you look back on it, there’s definitely ways that we could have gotten the ball to the perimeter. … It’s the coaches job to put the guys in the best position to be successful, and that didn’t happen on Saturday.”
- Day said Ohio State has started to process the Michigan result and work toward what lies ahead. “As much as this hurts, we’ve got a chance to go play for a national championship. … We have plenty good enough players to go do that. … Frustrated with how the season’s ended, but everything is out in front of us.”
- On Jayden Fielding after he missed two key field goals in The Game: "We wouldn't put him in the game if we weren't confident in him. ... We'll continue to look at how he does in practice."
- On what went wrong to put 12 men on the field in the final minute: "It was a miscommunication, shouldn't have happened."
- Day said he feels confident in his senior leadership heading into the playoffs, and while the loss is still on everyone's mind, there is excitement at the possibility to try and go win a national title. "I think there's a mix of emotions there."
- Day said he tried to give feedback on both sides of playcalling, but reiterated that the loss is ultimately on him.
- On whether he had too much commitment to winning the rushing battle against Michigan: "You don't just get stuck on one thing, but when you see one thing that's undefeated over 17 years, you gotta make sure the guys understand that. ... I think we've could have been more creative (in the red zone)."
- On what makes him feel he's the coach to lead the Buckeyes into the playoffs: "I can't sit here and tell you as I look back on the four years that there's one thing in common. ... Our guys, first off, love Ohio State. They are completely bought in. I think they played hard in that game. ... I think our culture is as strong as it's ever been ... we had a bad thing. ... The mind set is go win the whole thing now. ... Every time you go through some of this, you learn more and more. And that has to be the case here."
- Day said he expects to be at Ohio State next year.
- On what he'll address about The Game this offseason: "I felt like we addressed some of those things this offseason. ... You've gotta identify the areas you've gotta upgrade to go reach your goals."
- Day said there's pressure for the highly-touted 2021 recruiting class who came back to achieve goals to leave with some hardware. "For sure. That's it. These guys, they came back for a reason. When you lose this game it is completely maddening and frustrating and all of the above. The good news is, we still have a goal out in front of us."
- On whether Ohio State played "tight:" "We came into the game as confident and as loose as we've been since I've been here ... as the game went on, things happened, got a little tighter."
- On whether he's overthought the Michigan game: "I think you can approach it a million different ways. ... Execution fuels emotion, and it goes back to the coach has gotta put us in a position to be successful,
- Day said it hasn't entered his mind to take a job elsewhere. "No, this is a wonderful place, and I've got a great job. ... We've got a great way to make this a little bit better and go win the whole thing this year, and then figure out what went wrong and address it."
- On Justin Frye: "For all our guys, there's been things that they've done well and things that they haven't done well. ... The No. 1 job for any position coach is their room. ... Are you building enough depth? That's the challenge for all of our guys."
- Day deferred to Tony Petitti and the Big Ten on whether flag plants should be banned.
- Day still has total confidence in himself as Ohio State's coach, but understands everyone's frustration. "There's no way to defend losing four years in a row. But I know this, we're gonna play as hard as we can in this game. ... We're right there and we've gotta keep swinging at it."
- Day said Ohio State will consider different options on the offensive line.
