Ryan Day Big Ten Media Days Updates: Quarterback Battle Wide Open, Defense Looks Promising

LAS VEGAS — Ohio State head coach Ryan Day met with reporters today during a breakout session on Day One of Big Ten Media Days. He spent 45 minutes answering questions about the Buckeyes, the state of college football, and much more. The highlights of the wide-ranging question-and-answer period are below.

Where would he like to see the team improve this year? It’s not about comparing last year to this year. It’s about maximizing themselves and finding their own way.
Jeremiah Smith makes everybody else on the field better because he commands so much defensive attention. That also puts more pressure on the offensive coaches to find ways to get him the ball.
Caleb Downs is a coach on the field. He’s a pro.
Will try to put as much pressure on the quarterbacks as possible, and then build their confidence as they go.
Last year’s team wasn’t built by NIL. It was about a bunch of guys who decided to come back. This year’s team is galvanized by the players themselves, just like last year. These guys now are tired of hearing about last year.
On the right time to name a QB: Never felt like there was a specific time. It’s when the team believes in a guy. “We’ll see where this goes.”
On Tavien St. Clair: Athletic, good size, great arm, intelligent. On Julian Sayin: smart, quick release, can run. On Lincoln Kienholz: Tremendous athlete, intelligent. He’s being developed.
“The best players play. That’s the way it goes.”
Everybody is trying to figure out the NIL side of things outside the revenue sharing. How will the third-party deals be regulated and enforced, and how those who don’t follow the rules will be penalized. “We’d like to get a little more clarity on things are going to be handled.”
The gray areas in NIL is what drives him insane.
The class being recruited now is a strong class with really good players. “It’s a long way to December.”
On dispersing revenue sharing: They have built out a couple of models for it. Matt Patricia has been through this before, so he’s been helpful for Mark Pantoni on how they structure contracts and the cap. The starters should be at a certain level, followed by the backups. Where you create culture issues is when the guys who aren’t playing are making more money than the ones who are. The third-party deals from OSU are going to reward the guys who are on the team. They still need more clarity on being able to make third-party deals with recruits.
Ohio State has had some deals that have been denied from the NIL Go.
The gray area is OSU is recruiting in a different manner than some other programs who see the rules differently.
The DTs in the portal weren’t viewed to be better than what they had. Will Smith has stepped up. Eddrick Houston has to have a huge August.
The QBs are pushing each other every day. Trying to keep them uncomfortable to see how they handle it.
If you’re in the Big Ten, it makes no sense other than to have four automatic qualifiers. When you play nine conference games, it’s not the same as playing eight conference games. “It’s just not the same.” It’s not great for football when you have non-uniformity. It leads to fewer games like Ohio State vs. Texas. There are also 18 teams in the Big Ten, so there are a lot of good teams in the conference.
It doesn’t make sense to have a Power 4 team on the non-conference schedule if there aren’t four automatic qualifiers from the Big Ten.
Austin Siereveld has been great. He has stepped his game up. He’s going to be an important piece of the offense. Ethan Onianwa: “Arrow up with Ethan.”
“I don’t think there should be any on the road recruiting in the winter.” It’s a lot for the assistant coaches, plus if you’re in the playoffs, you’re missing that time. You lose ground in recruiting and the portal when you make a playoff run. There was a ton of tampering of OSU players.
CJ Donaldson has changed his body. He looks stronger. Bo Jackson will play as the season goes on. “I don’t know early.”
How do you beat Michigan? “By scoring more points than them.”
Bennett Christian is another guy who has taken a big step. Carnell Tate has taken the biggest step this year.
Would he be in favor of scrapping the B1G Championship Game if there are play-in games? Playing extra games is a concern, so it’s something that needs to be talked through. Is the CG the right thing anymore in this model? It’s a good conversation to have.
Is the overall talent at the top programs down compared to three years ago due to NIL and the changed? To be determined. The biggest delta will be figuring out the third-party stuff and getting clarity there.
“7-on-7 isn’t close to real football.”
On Jeremiah Smith’s second year: You have to be creative about how you get him the ball. He’s going to draw a lot of attention. It will be important for the quarterback to identify that.
What does a better version of JJ Smith look like this year? Seeing things faster. Transitioning in and out of breaks. Bigger, faster, stronger. Same with Caleb Downs. On JJ: “At his age, he’s further along than anybody I’ve ever been around.”