Imagine an Ohio State team without Jeremiah Smith in play. Ryan Day has pulled off some of the best recruiting campaigns in the past. Under him, several assistants are just as genius as him when it comes to recruiting. Recruiting and keeping elites like Smith is a mammoth job. “I was a Buckeye, and that’s it.”For someone of Smith’s stature to say this on recruiting day indicates that Ryan Day has cracked the code to winning the best of the best in the country. But now that the HC is primed to seat himself among the greats of OSU coaching, is a feud developing between him and AD Ross Bjork?

Ohio State is Ryan Day’s only tryst with head coaching so far. To have a 70-10 record for a marquee program, that too in his first go at the role, is not easy. But head coaching also means that you get the best recruits in your squad. And Ryan Day has nailed that, too. There’s a long list of stars that have been shaped under him. All of this stands in contrast to the latest rumor that’s been catching some traction online. Some fear there is a feud brewing between Ross Bjork and Ryan Day, for not quite letting the latter have his way with NIL when it comes to recruiting.

This is in light of the fact of some troubling setbacks OSU suffered in the 2026 class. They’re losing the top prospects, as well as in-state recruits, to other programs. However, NIL was never the issue, says OSU insider. In a July 19 episode of Buckeye Scoop, Nevada Buck, aka Kirk Barton, outright quashed the rumors of bad blood between Bjork and Day. “[Because] you can pay now, roster retention has become an equally important thing too… Ohio State’s gone for proven over prospect, for culture over cash,” he said. And according to him, Bjork has no problem in letting the money flow.

“Ross Bjork likes to spend money, okay. If he’s got anything in his path, you know, he likes to spend money. He likes to get after it. He’s not afraid to spend money on facilities, on coaches,” Buck said. However, Bjork’s position also makes him liable to be a gatekeeper when necessary. “[Anytime] you have a budget, somebody has got to be the big meanie… At some point, there’s a line. And for Ohio State, the line is, ‘We’re not going to be able to throw the bag at every player.’ But don’t turn that into some sort of thing because Ted Carter, Bjork, Day are in perfect alignment right now,” the insider added.

OSU has dropped down to the lower limits of the Top 10 class, sitting at the dangerous No. 9 position in On3’s rankings. As Signing Day nears, now is when football programs are flipping players. Ryan Day’s squad, unfortunately, is on the receiving end of this. Some top commits, like Jakob Weatherspoon, have flipped to other programs. And on the other hand, even a National Championship title and a marquee program aren’t swaying more talents over to Columbus. This recruiting slump is not something Day has seen in the past few cycles. Finishing in the Top 5 for the last 6 years. Even if Bjork is exercising control over the money for budget purposes, it might come to seriously dent Ryan Day’s previously brilliant recruiting campaign.

Ryan Day’s NIL tactics are falling short over those of rival programs

Ohio State’s NIL collectives (which will be united in the House settlement era) are the richest in college football. “The brotherhood right now, and our culture, is as strong as it’s ever been… But making sure the guys understand that they’re here for a reason…It’s that culture to make sure you understand you’re not just coming for a paycheck… You’re not just coming as a pass-through. You’re coming here to leave a legacy behind,” the HC said in an appearance on The Bobby Carpenter Show with Anthony Schlegel. However, there seems to be a mismatch between this messaging and the players who ditched OSU for other programs.

Felix Ojo, for example, shocked all his favorites, including OSU, because Texas Tech offered him a 45.1 million package. The harsh reality that Ryan Day is currently dealing with right now is that what’s not a priority for him can be gold for someone else. “Like you could be the number one player in North Carolina’s class or the number 16 player in Ohio State’s class. Well, you’re going to get more money as the number one player in North Carolina’s class. That’s just economics,” Andy Staples said in a July 18 episode of Andy & Ari.

Weatherspoon was offered by UNC in February, right after he committed to the program in January this year. He had been hailed by many OSU recruiting experts as one of Ryan Day’s biggest wins. But a closer look at UNC, and an aggressive push from Bill Belichick, had Weatherspoon sold. He was willing to leave the winningest program in recent years, for one that’s only just come to the limelight because of Belichick’s arrival. Despite this, Ryan Day will not offer more to guys he knows he isn’t confident about. Guys like Jermeiah Smith came with a huge price tag. And Ryan Day was willing to go after them with all his might. OSU is willing to take a few hits to retain the best, because it’s what’s worked for them so far.