Among the hundreds of recruiting targets Ryan Day has sealed in his career, the recruitment of his son, RJ, remains the most important. So far, the 2027 QB has received over a dozen offers, but he is still awaiting one from Ohio State. Amid that hope, Ryan Day clarifies his requirements for his son’s potential destination.

“It gives me a different perspective to look through…I got a chance to see from a dad’s perspective,” Day said about his son’s recruitment on Lantern TV on May 8. “What it really has done is emphasize the idea in my head that as the head coach, your job is to make a decision with the mindset of ‘everything is thought through the idea if that was my son, what would I want the coach to do.’ That’s it; you worked your whole life to raise somebody a certain way.”

“When you hand them over to people, it’s a huge responsibility. But until you actually do it and you walk your son into a group of people and say, ‘Okay, now you got my son now.’ That’s a big deal. I make it a point now to shake their [parents’] hands, look them in the eye, and tell them that this is our responsibility and we’re going to push them. You know, Ohio State’s not for everybody. We live in a very challenging environment, but that’s the way you want it.”

Playing for St. Francis DeSales, Columbus High School, RJ Day has gradually become a standout player. In his freshman season, he was named to the First Team All-Central Catholic League after throwing for 1,568 yards, notching the third-highest total in school history. Even in that season, despite being a freshman, RJ posted an efficiency of 71.1% and had six 150+-yard passing games. Returning in the sophomore season, RJ set a personal goal and committed to it.

“Sophomore season, I want to win all our games this year,” RJ said after his sophomore season. “I want to attack. I want to make my teammates better this year. And I want to get my guys to the point where they can go off to college because of what I did for them.”

That season, RJ passed for 1,425 yards, setting a sophomore record with 14 touchdowns. Most importantly, he also displayed immense rushing prowess, notching 208 rushing yards. To date, Ryan Day’s son has accumulated 5,714 yards and 54 touchdowns. Now, entering his final season of high school ball, RJ is finalizing his potential destinations with some help from his natty-winning father, Ryan Day.

RJ Day opens up about his dad’s guidance in his recruitment

The Ohio State head coach treats his son just like any other player on his team. Since RJ has closely followed OSU culture and has been a part of the locker room for almost 3 years, he knows the standards the program requires. However, the Buckeyes haven’t offered him yet. Despite that, RJ is hopeful of an offer from his father’s program.

“It’s always been a dream of mine to play in the Shoe and play for my dad,” RJ said about playing for Ohio State. “If the situation’s right, then yeah, we’ll go ahead. But until then, I’ll keep hunting down teams and make my decision later…He (Ryan Day) always tells me it’s my journey, so you’ve got to figure it out because everybody else figures it out, and you can’t use me as a crutch. So I got to figure it out on my own.”

According to ON3‘s predictions, Purdue has the highest chance (56.4%) of landing RJ, followed by Bowling Green and Miami (OH). Fran Brown’s Syracuse had also offered the 2027 QB, along with Boston College and Cincinnati. But the most appealing offer came a week ago from his uncle’s program, and it won’t be surprising if RJ Day ditches the hope for an OSU offer and finally trusts his offensive maestro uncle to develop him.