Ohio State head coach Ryan Day just pulled off a masterclass in recruiting chess by dropping a scholarship offer to Jordan Darren Djila Tchuisseu, a defensive back from Canada who is currently shutting things down in the secondary at Baylor School over in Chattanooga. The “masterclass” in question is that Jordan also happens to be the literal “Day 1” best friend and high school teammate of five-star running back mega-prospect David Gabriel Georges. Word is, Ryan Day is planning to hit two birds with one stone.

As soon as Darren got off the phone with the Buckeyes coaching staff, David Gabriel Georges rushed over to Instagram to celebrate. He posted a graphic of the two of them from last season and captioned it: “Neighbours to roommate to teammate???! LETS GOO!!!!! MY DAY 1 !!”

This Ryan Day move pretty much won his heart, and hopefully his pledge. The nation’s No. 2 running back doubled down on his X account and expressed his feelings: “LETS GO !! Been waiting for this one my brother.”

Mind you, this is Jordan’s first Power Four offer. Before this, the Quebec native had offers from the likes of UT Martin, Georgia State, Kennesaw State, and Dartmouth.

Needless to say, this was done out of Ohio State’s willingness to win Georges’ commitment. It was a heavy hint to the entire country that the two of them are strongly considering moving to Columbus together as a package deal, leaving Buckeyes Twitter on cloud nine.

Not going to lie, by pulling this off, it’s safe to say Ohio State got an edge in this recruitment. This move could be what gets Ryan Day’s hands on Georges when everything is said and done.

Georges is ranked as the eighth-best player in the entire country for the 2027 class. He’s fresh off a mind-blowing high school season in which he won National Player of the Year honors after rushing for 1,756 yards and 27 touchdowns. That included an unreal playoff game where he personally dropped 431 yards and seven scores all by himself.

Before this teammate offer dropped, Tennessee fans felt incredibly confident that they would keep the local superstar inside state borders. To prove how serious they were, the Vols even rolled out the ultimate red carpet during his official visit. They brought in legendary former Tennessee star and current NFL running back Alvin Kamara to hang out on campus and pitch the program to him face-to-face.

However, Ohio State running backs coach Carlos Locklyn refused to back down. Locklyn has been putting in serious miles, even traveling all the way up to Canada to sit down with Gabriel Georges’ family multiple times.

Things are moving incredibly fast because Gabriel Georges actually just canceled a planned visit to the Georgia Bulldogs.

He explicitly told recruiting insiders that he wanted to stop wasting time and focus entirely on the programs that perfectly fit his long-term goals. That move officially narrowed his final list down to a tight group of three: Ohio State, Tennessee, and Ole Miss.

Everything is going to come to a head very soon, as Gabriel Georges is officially locked in to announce his final commitment on July 22, live on the CBS Sports College Football YouTube channel. We will find out then if Ryan Day’s double-offer strategy at Baylor School completely seals the deal for the Buckeyes, or if the Vols can pull off a late save with rumored never-before-seen money for a recruit.

Tennessee’s historic NIL might take him off Ohio State’s hands

According to top recruiting experts at On3’s Lettermen Row, the Tennessee Volunteers have allegedly put together $6 million in NIL money over three years. That’s about $2 million per season. Not even the nation’s best running backs make that type of money.

The jaw-dropping numbers make it very obvious that the home-state Vols are willing to do whatever it takes to keep the local superstar in Tennessee. Insiders report that this deal goes way beyond direct cash deposits into his bank account. There has been talk of extra perks, including private jet travel and housing in Knoxville for his family.

This colossal financial package is exactly why the Ohio State Buckeyes had to completely pivot their game plan. Recruiting analysts openly admit that Ohio State’s standard NIL collective package isn’t quite reaching the astronomical heights as Tennessee’s financial offer.

Because Ryan Day and his staff couldn’t simply throw out a bigger bag of cash, maybe they decided to counter creatively by offering his best friend Jordan Darren and hit him right in the feelings.

Then again, it’s not that easy to walk away from that kind of money. Only time will tell.