“Chip Kelly obviously is a mentor of mine and a friend and a colleague, and so I would never be where I’m at right now without Chip, and certainly the same thing is to be said for this season, as well.” This statement by Ryan Day not only shows the level of influence that Chip Kelly had on Ryan Day’s career but also on winning the national championship last year. Kelly’s mentorship was pivotal not only when Day was a player at New Hampshire but later on in his coaching career. But after delivering that national title, Kelly finally went to the NFL, and the OC spot was a looming question.

That’s when Brian Hartline came into the picture with a $1.6 million per year paycheck. The guy was already at Ohio State as the wide receivers coach but didn’t call plays. Ryan Day instead took over the play calling, and the offense regressed by OSU’s standards. In the 2023 season, Ohio State was ranked 45th in scoring offense and 48th in total offense in the country with 425 yards per game. So, now that Ryan Day has finally decided to give play-calling to Hartline, it will be a pleasant change for OSU.

Ryan Day appeared on the 5th June episode of ‘Big 10 Football’ to talk about some looming Buckeyes issues like QB competition and the opening game vs. Texas. The head coach was asked about Hartline’s role, and he still said that his role wasn’t less than it was in 2023. “You have to manage the staff, and you have to coach the coaches, and then you have to still figure out your plan of attack when it comes to coaching the wide receivers, communicating with the quarterback, and organizing the game plan. I mean, it’s just it’s a different role,” stressed Ryan Day.

Hartline was demoted to Co-OC under Chip Kelly last year. But Kelly, being one of the best tacticians of the game, surely would have enhanced Hartline’s game under his wing. Kelly’s offense last year averaged 452.9 yards per game and was the 12th-ranked offense in the country. Hartline, meanwhile, still coached wide receivers and helped Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka notch up those receiving yards. Even Ryan Day was all in praise for Hartline.

“I thought he did some great work in the playoff run. I thought he did a great job in a lot of the play design in the past game, and we’ve been together now working for eight years. So, you know, he’s more ready than ever and excited to see how it goes,” said Ryan Day.

The game Ryan Day was talking about was the spring practice game Ohio State played in April, and Hartline called it. His team defeated the defense by 50-31, and the offense averaged 7.1 yards per play, a feat that would have easily ranked him top 5 nationally last year. All in all, Hartline is ready to take the next step, and if the spring game is taken into consideration, then he is good, and OSU fans should hope that these feats carry into the 2025 season.

Ryan Day clears his stance on the playoff format proposal

While Ryan Day might have his OC sorted out, the QB spot still looks doubtful at Ohio State. There are three QBs competing for the QB1 spot right now, and all three look talented in many aspects. But right now, for Ryan Day, that QB battle isn’t a worry; it’s something else. That is the prospect of 4 automatic bids in the playoffs as pushed by the Big 10. The head coach has now finally made his stance clear.

“We’re in the Big Ten, and we have 18 teams and some of the best programs in the country. I feel like we deserve at least four automatic qualifiers,” said Ryan Day. But are the 4 automatic bids even pondered by other conferences like the SEC or the Big 12?

Recently, the SEC’s key officials met in Orlando, Florida, to discuss just that, and the SEC commissioner Greg Sankey finally came out with a statement that proposed a 5+11 model instead of the 4-4-2-2-1-1 model the Big 10 and SEC were pushing. Even the Big 12 commissioner, Brett Yormar, endorsed the 5+11 idea, dampening hopes of Ryan Day to get those 4 automatic bids. However, the negotiations are still going on, and there is still too much drama to come.