The first thing out of J.T. Barrett's mouth when asked about new quarterbacks coach Ryan Day is a line or two about the latter's NFL experience. Barrett dreams of playing professional football like any other player that walks through the doors at Ohio State's Woody Hayes Athletic Center. As such, getting tutored by a man that has worked with Sam Bradford, Colin Kaepernick and others responsible for performing at the most important position in sports can't hurt.
“He had two years with Philadelphia and been with the 49ers. So he knows that level and he knows what it takes in order for you to play at that level,” Barrett said on March 9. “I think that being that I want to play in the NFL, he's helping me and giving me the tools where he's been able to do so.”
Barrett is on this third quarterbacks coach in five seasons at Ohio State. Day has something his predecessors do not: experience as an employee of the best football league in the world. Tom Herman is now the head coach at the University of Texas and Tim Beck is his quarterbacks coach. Day worked with Chip Kelly first in Philadelphia with the Eagles and then last season in San Francisco.
Barrett is under pressure from fans and Urban Meyer to work with Day and new offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson to get the Ohio State passing attack back to the same level it operated during the 2014 season. Herman called the offensive shots then and the Buckeyes won the inaugural College Football Playoff. But a tangible regression the past two seasons forced Meyer's hand and resulted in the exits of Beck and coordinator Ed Warinner.
“I want to see more accuracy,” Meyer said recently.
Barrett is back for a fifth season and spirits are high early in spring practice. Tempo is expected to return to the offense, he is supposed to go back to distributing the football to a bevy of weapons on the outside and the unit must purr with efficiency while points shower across scoreboards. Its disjointedness left a sour taste in the mouth of everyone involved with the program after a 31-0 humbling by Clemson in the 2016 Playoff.
Day has never worked with or coached against Barrett in his career. Barrett has never played for or requested help from Day in his. The fact their paths did not ever cross before January means both had to start from square one.
“I think the one thing he appreciates with me is that it is a clean slate,” Day said on Tuesday. “Every day he's trying to prove to me and I'm trying to prove to him the worth to each other.”
A fractured ankle forced Barrett to the sidelines for the 2014 postseason and inserted strong-armed Cardale Jones into the lineup. You know the rest of that story: Jones's prowess and touch down the field coupled with speedster Devin Smith, a powerful rushing attack and other playmakers like Michael Thomas and Jalin Marshall yielded the school's eighth national title.
Barrett's arm isn't as powerful as Jones's — there aren't many people on the planet blessed with that kind of talent — but he is a cerebral player, leader and a terrifically talented runner. Meyer, Day, Wilson and Barrett himself have all stated repeatedly how well Ohio State's offense operates when the deep ball is clicking off of a play-action pass. It went missing the last two seasons but Barrett did show the ability to do it in 2014.
It is up to Day to claw it back out of him.
“We're emphasizing it just as much as anybody else. Obviously, when you complete the deep ball, it changes everything,” Day said. “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 studied every bit of tape Ohio State had available of Barrett's first three seasons as the team's quarterback, with a primary focus on 2016. He claims he didn't see any hesitation or lack of confidence from Barrett but brought up the quarterback's feet and decision-making.
“We're constantly working on his footwork,” Day said. “We're constantly working on getting the ball out.”
Any partially informed football eye could notice that Barrett wasted steps in the pocket that threw off the timing between him and his receivers last season. But as has been stated by Meyer and everyone else many times, the struggles throwing the ball did not solely revolve around him.
In order to fix them, it is on Barrett to be receptive to what Day is teaching him. After all, they don't have much time together — only 12 guaranteed games. The hope is the new offensive brain trust and a renewed focus on tempo brings that total to 15, the same number Ohio State played during the magical season it ran roughshod over Wisconsin, Alabama and Oregon.
“I think the one thing he appreciates with me is that it is a clean slate. Every day he's trying to prove to me and I'm trying to prove to him the worth to each other.”– Ryan Day
“I think one of the things that can't be talked about enough as a quarterback is make sure you have the people around you in place and make sure that they're playing at the highest level they can play at in order for myself to be successful,” Barrett said. “Because as a quarterback, we know we need everybody to be a part of the party.”
Barrett also spoke about needing better accuracy with his throws in an effort to help his receivers be in a greater position to make plays after the catch. Hitting them in stride, protecting them from defenders, and the like.
And with a diploma in hand and only online coursework to worry about as he pursues a graduate degree, Barrett says his life "all ball" now.
“Before I had to go to tutoring, I had to go to class, had to take care of that whereas now I've taken care of that,” Barrett said. “It's literally just ball and with that it's full throttle, pedal to the medal, trying to make sure that we can all be on the same page.”
That starts with getting to know and trusting Day and Wilson, but primarily his new quarterbacks coach.
The good thing for Ohio State is they have that clean slate both with the same goal — to win games and get Barrett to the next level.
“I think it's going to help not just me but the quarterbacks in the room. You come to Ohio State, your goal is to play quarterback in the NFL,” Barrett said. “That's just not helping myself but helping all of us.”
“He's a grown man. He's like a professional when he shows up every day,” Day added. “From when I got here until now, I can see the best thing he does is play the game. You can see in today's practice, we got up there and started playing it, and he's moving the team up and down the field. At the end of the day, that's what's most important as a quarterback. Leading the other 10 guys on the field and then moving the team down the field to score points.”
