Ryan Day isn’t ready to say exactly what Ohio State’s spring showcase will consist of yet, but he expects it to look different than past spring games.
Asked by a member of the Ohio State Board of Trustees at Monday’s Athletics Committee meeting about the impending changes to the Buckeyes’ spring game, Day explained that he believes Ohio State must change the way it approaches spring practice this year after playing 16 games – the most it’s ever played in a season – on its way to winning a national championship this past season.
“I think we have to be smart about how we handle this,” Day said. “When you look at the NFL model and they’re playing the number of games that they play in the NFL, we just played 16 games, so to think that we can continue with the same spring game or spring practice model, I think is asking for trouble, because of the amount of games now.
“It isn’t just right now, but in a year or two, I think you’ll look back and say to yourself, ‘Boy, that’s a lot of football.’ You look at what the Kansas City Chiefs just did and the run they went on (playing in three straight Super Bowls), that’s a lot of football over a few-year period. So we’re gonna look hard at that, but we’re also gonna have to reconsider exactly how we’re gonna handle the spring game. So we’re getting close, we’re not quite there yet, but I don’t think it’s going to look the same as it’s looked in the past.”
Ohio State’s final practice of the spring, which it’s calling a spring showcase rather than a spring game, will be held April 12 at Ohio Stadium. The event will be open to the public, though Ohio State has not yet released details on what the showcase will consist of or ticketing information.
With spring practices set to begin four weeks from Monday – which will be exactly eight weeks after Ohio State played in the national championship game – Day said Ohio State plans to split the team into three groups this spring: “Guys who have played a lot of football, guys who have played some football and guys who just got here.” He didn’t say exactly what the spring will look like for each of those groups, but he wants to be smart as the Buckeyes gear up for what they hope will be another long season with a deep College Football Playoff run.
“I think we have a great nucleus of guys coming back,” Day told the athletics committee. “There was a lot that went into this (2024) season – the hard work, the leadership – so I think there’s a group of guys who were able to witness what it’s supposed to look like. And we had our freshmen and newcomers with us those last two games, the Cotton Bowl and also the national championship, where they were able to watch how those guys operate in the locker room, what it looks like on the field, postgame, the preparation. So I feel good about it.”
