Ryan Day and Ohio State enter the 2024 season as not only one of the favorites to win the Big Ten Conference, but an early pick to take home the program’s first College Football Playoff National Championship since the four-team format’s first year.
During Tuesday’s 2024 Big Ten Media Days appearance, the Ohio State coach insisted he and his team are doing everything they can to block the outside noise and hype, but they aren’t running away from the massive expectations.
“Every time I’ve gone into a season at Ohio State — I guess this is going to be eighth season now, sixth as the head coach — you expect to win every game,” Day said. “That’s just what it is. If you don’t think that’s the case, try losing a game at Ohio State. You’re expected to win it all.”
That includes triumph against Michigan, a constant thorn in Day’s side over the past few years. The Wolverines have won each of the last three installments of “The Game”, parlaying that momentum into three straight Big Ten titles.
Michigan reached new heights last year when it went 15-0 and captured its first national championship since the BCS era began. Ohio State was left out of the College Football Playoff field for a second consecutive year and lost to Missouri in a low-scoring Cotton Bowl.
“We want to win the rivalry game (against Michigan),” Day said. “Be back at this stadium right here, win a Big Ten championship, win a national championship. We know that. But at the same time, that can’t be our focus because that’s a distraction from where we are right now.”
Despite a yearly average of 11 wins since 2021, pressure is mounting for Day. In response, he made some buzzworthy changes that kept the Buckeyes atop the national headlines for most of the offseason. The most significant was hiring Chip Kelly, who was UCLA’s sitting head coach, as offensive coordinator.
It was quite the coup to convince the two-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year, with experience playing for national championships, to take what most would view as a step down to run Ohio State’s offense. It’s no wonder that Day, who had a heavy hand in OSU’s offense since he took over as head coach, is conferring play-calling duties to Kelly.
Day said that Kelly’s role will allow him to still manage certain aspects of the offense while having a more active role on defense and special teams.
“Chip’s here for a reason: to run the offense,” Day said. “But I think it’s my job as the head coach to look on the horizon and figure out what’s coming in this conference, have experience of what’s coming down the road, the games we need to win, how we need to win. Also with the type of players that we have. So that will kind of be my input in the offense, knowing what we’re doing.”
Ohio State certainly has enough talent to make the transition easy. It wouldn’t have a hope of reaching such lofty expectations without the roster to back it up. The Buckeyes supplemented an impressive cadre of returning players with one of the nation’s best transfer hauls.
They added former Kansas State starting quarterback Will Howard, a tough-nosed veteran, and the portal’s top running back in former Ole Miss star Quinshon Judkins to bring some much-needed physicality to the offense. It is an offense that already boasts one of the nation’s most impressive receiving corps, with the upside to produce multiple All-Americans and all-conference selections (keep your eye out for true freshman Jeremiah Smith, the highest-ranked receiver recruit in the modern era).
Ohio State’s campaign kicks off Aug. 31 against Akron. The Buckeyes open conference play a month later against Michigan State.
