The 2025 season had real highs for Ohio State. The Buckeyes went undefeated during the regular season and even snapped their losing streak against Michigan. But it ended on a disappointing note, in a stark contrast to how things were after the 2024 season. For Ryan Day, key players leaving for the pros added another challenge.

This off-season, there was a huge influx of freshmen who came in at midyear,” Day said in a conversation with Josh Pate on May 12. “We had some transfer guys come in. We had to replace Caleb; Sunny was a reclass. He was in the class before. Arvell, Kayden McDonald, and Carnell Tate—those guys were all three-year guys. So there were some holes in there that we had to address in the transfer portal, which I think we did a really good job of.

“But you can’t just assume that all these guys understand the culture when they walk into the building. So, this offseason has been a huge emphasis on that, making sure these guys understand what comes with being a Buckeye,” said Day.

Overall, the Buckeyes lost 11 primary starters. The defense took the hardest hit, as Matt Patricia lost eight of his starters who contributed to a unit that allowed only 129.7 passing yards per game last season. In contrast, the offense retained eight of its 11 starters, especially at the QB1 and WR1 positions.

As a result, Ryan Day brought in a massive haul of 51 new players. Alabama transfer James Smith, the No. 1 DL in the portal, comes as a key piece along with DE Qua Russaw, another Alabama transfer. Duke transfer safety Terry Moore and Florida State transfer safety Earl Little Jr. are probably the new starting duo in the backfield. And then there are the likes of freshman WR Chris Henry Jr., who can help the offense from the get-go.

However, getting it all together would need some time, and the coaching staff dedicated the entirety of spring to doing that.

Ryan Day was looking for a fresh offensive perspective

With Brian Hartline’s departure to USF, even Ryan Day’s coaching staff looks different. He hired former Steelers OC Arthur Smith to call the plays for him next season. The head coach knows the team needs newer ideas, and Smith provides them.

“When we hired Chip, the idea was really looking for somebody who had a lot of experience coaching in big games,” Day told Lantern TV a few days ago. “And really the guys that we looked at were guys who were former head coaches in the NFL. Bill O’Brien was there, looked at a few other coaches. Chip certainly fit that and obviously the relationship that we had, but Bill was the first one that we hired and then he went to Boston College. And then we were able to get Chip.”

“It was the same type of thing this time around. One, somebody who had a lot of experience and could sort of run the offense, where I could maybe take a step back and focus on the team a little bit more. Two, somebody who had a different perspective because we’ve been sort of in the same offense here for a while,” Ryan said during the interview.

With Smith, the Buckeyes are expected to shift towards a more physical, NFL-style offense. There is a reason why there has been so much talk about Julian Sayin improving his run game during the spring practices. We are also going to see heavy tight end usage, a thing that became quite common with Smith’s offense at the Steelers.

But that doesn’t mean Jeremiah Smith won’t have his targets. He’s set to benefit from getting the safeties to play closer to the line of scrimmage in a run-first, physical offense. But all that’ll happen when Ryan Day successfully integrates the new players into his system.