If you’ve been following the transfer portal over the past month, you’re probably thinking every big name probably ends up at Ohio State.
Former Alabama defensive back Caleb Downs joined up with the Buckeyes in the wake of Nick Saban’s retirement, as did center Seth McLaughlin, his former teammate. Former Kansas State quarterback Will Howard said he picked Ohio State because he wanted to win a national title. Star Ole Miss running back Quinshon Judkins will be in the Ohio State backfield.
Head coach Ryan Day somehow managed to convince his previous running back TreVeyon Henderson and stat receiver Emeka Egbuka to come back for another year, too. On top of all of that, the Buckeyes have the nation’s No. 3 recruiting class on the way for next year, including five-star wideout Jeremiah Smith, the top overall prospect and the third-highest-rated recruit to commit to Ohio State since 247Sports began tracking.
However, all of the newfound promise and pedigree in the program also brings something Day has been desperate to work around: expectation.
Ryan Day has a 56-8 record as the head coach of Ohio State. He only has three losses in 42 games of conference play. One of the best resumes in the country, right? Well, if you narrow the scope to top-10 teams, his record stumbles to 8-8. All three of those conference losses have come to archrival Michigan over the past three years. To make matters worse, the Wolverines walked away with the national title this past season.
Ryan Day came inches from a potential national title in 2022, in complete fairness. His kicker hooked a potential game-winner against Georgia in a tight game before the Bulldogs absolutely eviscerated TCU in the national title game by nearly 60 points.
Look at the talent, however. Day has worked with two first-round picks at quarterback in Justin Fields and C.J. Stroud, the latter of whom looked like a superstar as a rookie this year. He’s had wide receivers like Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson, Marvin Harrison Jr., and Egbuka. He had a dominant running back in J.K. Dobbins. Through five years, he has three College Football Playoff appearances and one blowout loss in the national championship game to show for it.
That’s a better resume than most coaches could ever dream of. Ohio State is not most schools, however. The third loss to Michigan resulted in questions about Day’s job security. He’s still in Columbus in 2024, but let’s revisit that recent run in the transfer portal again. A five-star Alabama freshman. A Power 5 conference champion quarterback. A workhouse SEC running back.
Day isn’t just winning the transfer portal, it feels like he’s recruiting to save his job. Ironically enough, he’s done so well in that department that the goals for his program have gotten even higher.
If you examine the talent Day has gotten in the building over the past five years, each season seems to end with the same question. If you didn’t win that national title, when will you? The Ohio State head coach probably doesn’t need to win it all to keep his job, but we’re staring at college football’s ultimate prove-it year in real time.
If not now, when?