Analyst Reveals Why Ryan Day Is Finally Set To Break Through in 2024
While the Ohio State Buckeyes had their hopes set on a national championship in 2023, that didn’t go quite as planned. After a third-straight loss to their rival Michigan Wolverines, the Buckeyes were knocked out of the Big Ten Championship and the College Football Playoff. Then, the Buckeyes followed that up with an extremely disappointing showing in the Cotton Bowl that resulted in an embarrassing loss to Missouri. This resulted in a massive overhaul from head coach Ryan Day. Now, the Buckeyes look like a prime national title contender. And thanks to the myriad of improvements, 247 Sports analyst Brad Crawford believes Day is the most likely coach in the country to reel in his first national title.
Dec 29, 2023; Arlington, TX, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day walks on the field before the game against the Missouri Tigers at AT&T Stadium.Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports “Ryan Day and the Buckeyes went scorched earth on college football in the wake of their bowl loss to Missouri,” Crawford said. “What has transpired since would lead any offseason power ranking of elites in terms of talent acquisition… Based on the way Ohio State is recruiting and shifting its attention to NIL, the Buckeyes are serious about gunning for the program’s first national championship since 2014 and first under Day next fall. It’s obvious this roster will be one of the nation’s most talented and with College Football Playoff expansion, the Buckeyes should be a virtual lock to get there.” So how did the Buckeyes change their fate? Well, it started by keeping their star home. As a result of the way the season ended, many players on the Buckeyes felt they had unfinished business, resulting in the return of 15 of 22 starters off of a team that had a top-five defense last year. Not only did Ohio State reel in a top-three recruiting class, headlined by the No. 1 overall recruit in Jeremiah Smith, but they also cashed in with the NCAA Transfer Portal bringing in former Kansas State Wildcat Will Howard to replace Kyle McCord. Related: Buckeyes Hire Penn State-Ex Bill O’Brien as New OC
Day then finished off the ‘rebuild’ by bringing in a new offensive coordinator in former Penn State and Houston Texans head coach, Bill O’Brien. O’Brien has coached under Nick Saban and Bill Belichick and is known as an elite offensive mind. In other words, Day understood the assignment, with the Buckeyes now once again looking like a national power.