Wednesday was Ohio State football head coach Ryan Day’s turn at the podium to speak with the media at Big Ten media days.
There were plenty of topics the Buckeyes’ head coach talked about during his 15 minutes, including the quarterback derby, adjustments on offense, what his role will be with Brian Hartline now calling plays and more.
Day was the final coach to speak on the day. While we may not have learned a lot, it was still good to see the head coach begin what feels like the official countdown to the season.
See the transcription of what Day said while he was speaking at the 2023 Big Ten media days below.
Opening statement
What Day said
Great to be here today, with three great guys, Marvin Harrison Jr., Cade Stover and J.T Tuimoloa. I thought it was great, as we came over here this morning, sort of a cross section of our team. You take a guy from Philadelphia, the prep in Philly, dad is hanging in the rafters here. Tremendous wide receiver.
Then you have Cade Stover, who grew up in Lexington, Ohio, whose family owns a farm, playing tight end. And then J.T. from Seattle, Polynesian background who is here playing defense. So, it’s similar to our whole team this year, which were excited about getting going here. I know everyone is this time of year. We’ve had a great offseason; we have great leadership; and it’s fun to be around a great team who enjoys being around each other, but it’s also very diverse in very different ways but has the same mindset everyday of going to work. Looking forward to this season.
On who is going to be the backup quarterback going into camp (snarky way of asking who will start)?
What Day said
I’ll start with Lincoln (Keinholz). Lincoln has stepped in and is very surprised with just his approach. Really impressed with how it doesn’t seem too big for Lincoln. He’s very athletic, he’s learning, he’s got a long way to go. He came in during the summer. Excited to have him here.
Tristan (Gebbia) has done a great job as being a coach. Being a guy who wants to be a coach, but he’s taken those guys under his wing. Understands the offense now at a high level. He going to provide depth for us.
That’s important because this is the most depth we’ve had in a long time at the quarterback position. Which will allow us to do some things maybe we haven’t done in the past.
And then you have Devin (Brown) and Kyle (McCord). They both had very good summers. They both have shown leadership. Mick (Mariotti) has really put them in situations to do that. Now it’s going to be time to put it out on the field and we’d obviously would like for someone to emerge here quickly, but we kinda have to see once we put it on the field.
On how Day feels about the offensive line heading into camp?
What Day said
I think that the two areas, just in terms of guys, going into the conference game on the road. We did that a couple years ago against Minnesota, last year we’re playing Notre Dame at home and this year it’s Indiana on the road. Your concern is guys who haven’t played. Guys who don’t have the experience. The two guards have played, and the two tackles and center haven’t.
Now, I’m excited about some of our options there. Josh Fryar looks good, he cut weights. Tegra (Tshabola), we also added Josh Simmons, who prefers to be called Jimmy by the way, so we’re gonna have to call him Jimmy Simmons. Luke Montgomery has been in the mix. He’s had a very good summer. We have Vic Cutler. We have some good pieces there, but they just haven’t played. So that’s where this offseason has been important, but now in August gonna it’s critical for them to build chemistry and solidify themselves as starters.
We have enough people there that we feel good, we can find that, but they have to go do it. So that’s obviously something we need gotta make sure we’re focused on and then obviously the quarterback position. Those are the two biggest areas we make sure we’re going a great job.
On what it means with for Day with Brian Hartline moving to offensive coordinator
What Day said
Nothing has really change from the spring. We’ll kind of see how the preseason goes and see how it all shakes out, the chemistry. It has allowed me an opportunity to bounce around a little bit more. Naming Quinn Temple, our chief of staff, he’s kind of taken some things off my plate. He’s done a really good job there.
The way that our staff is designed, I think we have a great staff. It has allowed me to jump around more. Once we get into the teeth of the season. I know how it’s going probably for me. I’m gonna end up being right involved with it again. But that being said, as the season wears on, I have to be conscious of this year to not get too locked into the offense and making sure that I have a handle of everything that’s going on.
Certainly Brian running the offense, and being a part of that. Justin Frye with the O-line. Some of the other additions we’ve had to the staff, will allow us to do that.
On how much have you talked about the final two games of last year?
What Day said
It started off with the way that the regular season ended and then that whole bowl prep leading up to it. There was a lot of focus, conversations about making sure that we finish the season the right way and we came up a couple plays short. That was not easy to do. As you replay a few plays here, a few plays there, really in both of those games, it’s motivating.
So what we did this offseason, I think you heard me talk about it is, everything we did about in offseason was about competing because when you are in matchup games, it comes down to a handful of plays. There are times during the season, where that’s not the case. We can maybe lose a few plays and still win by a few touchdowns and its like sometimes that can get unnoticed.
Not that it can get get unnoticed, it’s just something that maybe you don’t feel the severity of it until you lose a game like that. We’ve been working hard in this offseason to make sure that doesn’t happen again. In every game, no matter who we’re playing, we understand it can come down to a couple plays. In certainly in matchup games, we have got to win those games.
Explosive plays certainly are what really was our Achilles heel going down to those last two games. We know that. We’ve talked about it. How much do we talk about the rivalry game and winning at the end of the season? We talk about it every day. We do. We’re not going to sit there and let it beat us twice but it is a motivating factor for sure.
On whether improvement on defense is about the technique or the scheme to fit players?
What Day said
It’s a great question because it’s some that comes up all the times on both sides of the ball this time of year. You have a general idea of what your offense and what your defense is, but ultimately you have to tailor it to what your guys can do. That’s something that coming off last season, No. 1 thing we know, explosive plays. There was a lot of improvement made, but those are the things that hurt us, so how do we get that fixed.
So that’s obviously something that we’ve really focused on, but also, how do we now take a group of guys that have been in the system now for a year and take the next step and put the right people in the right spots. And that’s really what it comes down to and not just something that’s maybe worked the past couple years, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to work moving forward. Or maybe it’s something you use as a change up that used to use as your fastball.
And that’s all the art of, especially college coaching. And that’s all of the conversations that’s being had right now, is putting the right guys in the right place to be success and they get really good at it. I think we did that in the spring and hopefully we can built on that in August.
On whether Day would consider playing both quarterbacks to start the season
What Day said
In the last, now going on seven years, we’ve been in that situation quite a few times at Ohio State in just not knowing who the quarterback is going into the season. You had a new one with Dwayne (Haskins). Then you had a new one with Justin (Fields). Then you have a new one with CJ (Stroud) and here we are again.
So, when you go into these situations, you’d like for someone to emerge during camp. Who knows if that’s going to happen or not. You’d like to see somebody emerge, then you’d name them just like we’ve done with CJ, and Justin, Dwayne. If that doesn’t happen, then maybe that is the case. You know, we’ll have to evaluate it from there.
We’ll see. We got to go in and win that first game on the road so we’re going to do everything we can and do what’s right for Ohio State. I’m excited to see these guys compete and put it on the field. It’s so much different when you are just throwing routes on air, you’re going through workouts and then when you are actually playing football. We have to go start playing football here and figure out who our quarterback will be.
On what Day has seen from newly promoted assistants Brian Hartline and Keenan Bailey that gives Day confidence in their abilities
What Day said
First off, they are both very bright. They both are very energetic, they recruit at a high level. They connect with players very well and they have credibility.
Keenan, has been with us really since I’ve been at Ohio State. He’s been in different rooms. He’s learned; he’s taken on a lot of roles. He’s got a lot of respect from so many people in that building because of his work ethic. Because of the relationship he has with his players and it’s not just the tight end. You go in there for a work out at 6 in the morning, he’s right there with his players. You go out there for a team run at 4 o’clock, he’s there running with them. Players like that. How do you create relationships and connections with players? You spend time with them and he does that. And he’s also very, very intelligent.
And then Brian, same type of thing. His credibility that he has, because he’s played the position of wide receiver, because he went on the play the position in the NFL. And he’s brought guys along and developed guys in that room. And the next logical progression for him is being a coordinator. Which, up until this point he’s tackled everything and succeeded. So, we expect him to do the same thing.
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