Here are seven takeaways from the coach about to enter his fifth season in charge of the program and looking to end a two-year Big Ten title drought:
1. Quarterbacks Kyle McCord and Devin Brown will split reps with the No. 1 offense when practice begins Thursday.
The battle will continue until someone emerges as the No. 1 guy.
If no one does, they could both play in the season-opening game at Indiana, and the competition will continue until someone clearly wins the job.
Usually the scrimmage on the second Saturday of the preseason provides some clarity on a lot of positions.
2. Day noted that he went through a quarterback competition as a player at New Hampshire that saw him start the first games but not really lock down the job until a few weeks in.
The young Day started to believe once he had a few games under his belt. That’s when instincts can begin to take over.
That also led him to remember they put too much on C.J. Stroud’s plate for his second start, a loss to Oregon in 2021. Stroud put up big numbers that afternoon, but he also made some key mistakes. That taught Day he needed to rely on the defense and running game more to protect a young quarterback.
3. The eye test is part of the QB battle.
The coaches have a lot of numbers they will evaluate, but those don’t tell the whole tale. He wants to see their decision-making, and he wants to see the quarterback be the most competitive guy on the field.
His examples were Dwayne Haskins Jr. morphing into a runner against Maryland late in his first and only season as a starter in 2018, Justin Fields shaking off a nasty hit to the back in the Sugar Bowl against Clemson to lead the Buckeyes to victory in the 2020 season and C.J. Stroud’s overall performance against Georgia in the Peach Bowl in December.
4. The team is at full strength after having the usual dozen or so guys out or limited in the spring.
Day sees them being able to go four-deep at many positions, which is important because it means they can have competition all over the field.
“That’s what this whole offseason has been about, “Day said. “It’s been about competing, so we’ll keep pushing that message forward.”
5. Day felt the secondary had a good summer after having a good spring.
The group has shown a lot of competitiveness with the Buckeyes’ elite receiving corps, an important development after the unit struggled the past three seasons.
He noted cornerbacks Denzel Burke and Jordan Hancock as having strong offseasons as well as safety Malik Hartford, a true freshman from Lakota West.
6. There will not be a “clean break” when it comes to Brian Hartline taking full responsibility of the offense.
Hartline was elevated to offensive coordinator in the offseason, and he may eventually become the team’s play-caller on game days.
However, Day called the latter the least important aspect of the job, noting the offensive coordinator has to organize everything during the week and make sure they are preparing for the right looks from the opponent so the right things are in on game day.
Then the call sheet sort of dictates a lot of the actual play calls, but there is an art to it all.
7. Day was not sure yet if he could comment on Nigel Glover.
That was most likely just a matter of the head coach not being sure if the NCAA compliance process had been completely worked out.
A Northmont grad who enrolled at Northwestern in June, Glover announced Tuesday he is transferring to Ohio State, where he will be a freshman linebacker.
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