Ryan Day is taking the reins back.
With the College Football Playoff looming and Ohio State sitting at No. 2, Day confirmed Monday that he’ll resume play-calling duties for the Buckeyes in the postseason. It’s a move rooted in familiarity and urgency, as outgoing offensive coordinator Brian Hartline shifts his focus to coaching wide receivers after accepting the head coaching job at South Florida earlier this month.
“It’s such a strange calendar and the timing is brutal,” Day said. “But he’s handled it really well. Going into the game, it’ll be a group effort... ultimately it’ll be my decision on the calls that go into this game.”
For Day, this isn’t new territory - it’s a return to form. Before becoming Ohio State’s head coach, he was the offensive coordinator under Urban Meyer, and he last called plays exclusively in the Buckeyes’ 42-41 thriller against Georgia in the 2022 Peach Bowl semifinal.
That night, quarterback C.J. Stroud threw for 348 yards and four touchdowns against one of the nation’s top defenses.
It was a showcase of Day’s aggressive, pass-first philosophy - a style that helped define Ohio State’s offensive identity during his early years at the helm.
Since then, Day had taken more of a collaborative approach, handing over primary play-calling duties to Hartline in 2023 and then to Chip Kelly in 2024. Each brought their own flavor to the Buckeyes’ offense.
Kelly’s lone season as play-caller resulted in a national title, while Hartline’s 2025 campaign saw Ohio State finish 17th nationally in scoring at 34.9 points per game. Redshirt freshman quarterback Julian Sayin flourished under that structure, throwing for 3,323 yards and 31 touchdowns en route to a fourth-place finish in Heisman voting.
Still, Day has always worn the responsibility for the offense, win or lose. After last season’s loss to Michigan, he didn’t shy away from the criticism, pointing to schematic breakdowns and red zone inefficiency as areas that fell short. Now, with Hartline stepping aside and the Buckeyes preparing for a Cotton Bowl showdown against a surging Miami team, Day is stepping back in - not just to steady the ship, but to steer it.
This year’s Ohio State offense has been built around efficiency and quick strikes to the perimeter, leaning heavily on a deep, NFL-caliber receiver room and tight end Max Klare. The Buckeyes didn’t lean as heavily on the run game as they did in 2024, when TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins both eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark. And while freshman phenom Jeremiah Smith is only now being fully unleashed, the passing game has remained the focal point - a hallmark of Day’s system.
If history is any indication, the Buckeyes could be in for a more vertical, high-octane approach with Day calling the shots again. From 2018 through 2022, Ohio State’s offense was consistently among the nation’s elite. During that stretch:
- In 2018, Ohio State averaged 42.4 points per game, with 535.6 yards of total offense - second in the country - and a blistering 364.3 passing yards per game.
- In 2019, the Buckeyes upped their scoring to 46.9 points per game, while balancing the attack with 266.8 rushing yards per contest.
- Even in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Ohio State still averaged 519.4 yards per game and over 41 points.
- The 2021 squad led the nation in both scoring (45.7 PPG) and total offense (561.2 YPG), with 380.9 yards coming through the air.
- In 2022, they remained top-10 in scoring (44.2 PPG) and total offense (490.7 YPG).
Those numbers weren’t just the product of talent - though having quarterbacks like Dwayne Haskins, Justin Fields, and Stroud certainly helped - they were also a reflection of Day’s ability to scheme and adapt.
And that’s exactly what he’s aiming to do now. Even as the faces in the coaching room have changed - from Hartline to Kelly and back - Day has emphasized continuity. He’s modeled Ohio State’s offensive structure after Nick Saban’s philosophy at Alabama: evolve, but keep the core intact.
“Chip brought in his own ideas, but we tried to keep the offense the offense,” Day said earlier this year. “There’s certain things that you like to do that we’re going to embrace... But when he left, we can’t just all of a sudden have a whole new offense.”
So here we are - back to the basics. Back to Day dialing up plays, managing tempo, and pushing the ball downfield.
With Sayin at quarterback and a loaded receiver room ready to roll, Ohio State has the firepower to make a deep run. But with Miami up next - fresh off a dominant showing at Texas A&M - the Buckeyes won’t have much margin for error.
Day’s back in the driver’s seat. Now it’s time to see if his play-calling magic can guide Ohio State to another title run.