Ohio State might be dealing with a very different offseason. After the NCAA introduced a new calendar proposal in late June, the Buckeyes immediately started looking at what it might mean for the program. If the plan gets approved this August and rolls out in 2027, Ryan Day’s staff may have to rethink how they organize the months before the season. Even AD Ross Bjork admitted nobody has everything figured out yet, which shows just how big these changes could be.

“Don’t know yet,” Ross Bjork said. “We knew that there was gonna be some modification. We didn’t know that you’d sort of have these separate windows where you’re only allowed five weeks max during those windows, right? So that’s something that Coach Mickey Marotti, they’ll have to sit down and map out.”

This is a headache for Ryan Day. Under the proposal, Ohio State would still get 21 on-field sessions in the spring-summer window, but they must fit inside seven total weeks with no block longer than five. That forces Marotti to carve the year into chunks, protect nine dead weeks for classes and recovery, and still leave enough reps for young players before camp. For a program that treats every April rep as a stepping stone to August, the math suddenly feels tighter.

“Do we keep the five weeks the same that we’ve always done and have a spring game?” Bjork said. “And then you have two weeks, maybe the first couple weeks in June… So I think there’s a lot to learn in terms of how we can modify the calendar and get the right approach leading into the season.”

That’s the puzzle Ross Bjork says Ryan Day and strength coach Mickey Marotti now have to solve. He also pointed out that players already spend time on the field during the summer under the current eight-hour rule, meaning the staff will have to figure out how those opportunities fit into a whole different calendar.

The spring game could become one of the biggest talking points. It isn’t the all-out scrimmage it used to be, but it still gives fans their first look at a new roster and brings thousands of people into Ohio Stadium every April. Losing flexibility there isn’t something programs will brush aside. And that’s only one piece of the proposal.

The preseason would also shrink from 25 practices over 31 days to 21 practices across just 27 days. The thinking is that teams will already have more organized work during the offseason, so they won’t need such a long fall camp. That may sound reasonable, but every coaching staff develops differently. Ohio State has built a reputation for using every available practice to polish young talent before September. Compressing that timeline changes the rhythm coaches have relied on for years. The proposed changes also don’t stop with practice schedules.

Can Ryan Day’s Ohio State adapt to the potential changes?

The January transfer portal would shrink from 15 days to just 10, giving coaches less time to evaluate departures, pursue replacements, and finalize scholarship plans. Recruiting may not stay the same either. The NCAA is also looking at a plan that would let up to 17 staff members, including the head coach, hit the road to recruit, while replacing the current system with a yearly limit on recruiting days.

The regular season could get a new look as well. If the new plan takes effect in 2027, teams would report a week earlier than usual, but the regular season would still wrap up after Thanksgiving. Every program would have 14 weeks to fit in its 12-game schedule, bringing a lot more consistency from year to year. Ross Bjork likes that direction and says Ohio State is ready to adjust whenever the changes become official.

“We’ll have to adapt our schedules accordingly,” he said. 

None of that changes this season, though. Ohio State’s focus is still on its 2026 opener against Ball State on Sept. 5. The real test won’t arrive until 2027, if and when the new calendar becomes reality.