Ohio State coach Day gives recruiting insight
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State’s offseason is upon us, at least to the public eye, as coach Ryan Day and his staff and team won’t address the media as a whole for months.
But Day will occasionally still speak, and he did so on Tuesday night with Josh Pate of Late Kick Live.
Of note, now that recruiting is in the forefront for the next few months, he talked about his philosophy on recruiting and what he looks for during spring practices when recruits roam the sidelines on visits.
“You can try talking somebody into coming to your school, but it’s not a recipe for success,” Day said. “You open up your doors, you explain why we think that you’re a great fit at Ohio State, but you explain what you’re doing. You’re going to walk into a room, if you’re a defensive end, you’re going to walk in with a bunch of really good defensive ends...If that’s what you want, and you embrace that culture and you embrace that competitive nature on a daily basis, you’re going to develop at a high level — because by the way, you’re going to go against a really good player on the other side of the ball every day. Donovan Jackson’s going against Tyleik Williams every day in practice. And that’s why those two players are going to develop into two of the best players in the country next year, and hopefully both first round draft picks.”
There were a few things Day said of note, including that the transfer portal class was more about quality over quantity, and the internal evaluations that happen after big time wins or losses.
As for recruiting though, he went deeper.
“If you have to talk ‘em into it, and maybe they shy away from it, then you probably don’t have the right guy,” Day said. “...You physically can watch them in one of our spring practices. They’re either almost walking onto the field, or they’re just kind of taking a step back. You can physically see it. Some guys are still young, they’re still figuring it out. But when I watch a guy, and there’s a big rep and he’s almost running on the field as a recruit, I’m like, ‘This is our guy.’ They tell you right away.”
MICHIGAN PROJECTED TO LAND OHIOAN AT
RUNNING BACK
The Wolverines are not done raiding the state of Ohio.
Four-star running back Marquise Davis, the No. 166 overall player in the 247Sports composite rankings in the 2025 class, the No. 11 running back and the No. 7 player in Ohio, has received two crystal ball predictions that would land him with Michigan. Davis is an Ohio State target.
The Cleveland Heights product has a strong relationship with former Buckeye running backs coach Tony Alford, who is now with the Wolverines. And the way things are headed, it appears that Davis will end up in Michigan.
It would be the second year in a row that the Wolverines have pulled off a feat like that, as four-star running back Jordan Marshall (No. 77 overall) in the 2024 class left Cincinnati for Michigan.
2026 RUNNING BACK PICKS UP OHIO STATE OFFER
New Ohio State running backs coach Carlos Locklyn
and the Buckeyes’ staff extended an offer to fourstar running back Jonathan Hatton Jr., the No. 3 running back and No. 35 overall player in the 2026 class.
Hatton is currently an Oklahoma commit, but has picked up offers from Oregon (while Locklyn was there), USC, Tennessee, SMU and Alabama in the last three months.
Ohio State has just one commit in the 2026 class,
five-star wide receiver Chris Henry Jr., who recently moved out to California.
KEY DATES
Ƈ NFL Draft: 1 day, Thursday-Saturday
Ƈ Chelsea vs. Manchester City soccer match at Ohio Stadium: 101 days, Aug. 3
Ƈ 2024 opener vs. Akron: 129 days, Aug. 31
Ƈ Ohio State at Oregon: 171 days, Oct. 12