Ohio State coach Ryan Day to take over play calling during College Football Playoff

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Head coach Ryan Day said Monday he is taking over offensive play-calling duties for Ohio State through the College Football Playoff.

Day is not new to calling plays, as he gave up play calling for the first time before last season when he hired Chip Kelly as the team’s offensive coordinator. When Kelly left for the NFL, Day promoted Brian Hartline, who called plays this season through the 13-10 loss to Indiana in the Big Ten title game. But with Hartline juggling duties as offensive coordinator at Ohio State and as the new head coach at South Florida, Day is stepping back in.

Hartline was announced as USF’s coach on Dec. 3. He is expected to remain in the press box during games, but he’s focusing on coaching the receivers while still having input in the offensive game plan. 

“It’s a lot on his plate, it’s a lot to manage,” Day said. “Wanted to take that off of Brian’s plate as we head into the Playoff because we got so much going on with what he’s trying to do, but he’s working hard.”

Ohio State has not yet hired a new offensive coordinator to replace Hartline in 2026.

The Cotton Bowl against Miami in a CFP quarterfinal on Dec. 31 will be the first time Day has called plays since Ohio State’s 14-3 loss to Missouri in the 2023 Cotton Bowl. That Ohio State team was riddled with injuries and opt-outs, playing without star receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. and starting quarterback Kyle McCord.

Now, Day will call an offense that has a Heisman Trophy finalist at quarterback in Julian Sayin and one of the best skill position groups led by the receiver duo of Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith.

Ohio State has planned for this change throughout the past few weeks. Day has been more involved in the offense since the team’s loss to Indiana.

“It’s been great having him with us — he’s a great quarterback coach and developer and is someone who teaches the position really well,” Sayin said. “We take so much from him. He brings the best out of everybody.”

Day insists that play calling will be a group effort between him, Hartline, tight ends coach Keenan Bailey (who is also splitting time with the receivers), quarterbacks coach Billy Kessler, running backs coach Carlos Locklyn and offensive line coach Tyler Bowen.

He’ll rely on the eyes in the press box to help him while he’s on the field as the head coach.

“We have to be good upstairs,” Day said. “I really need Keenan and Billy and Tyler and Art to be on their stuff so that we can move quickly. Billy will get the call into the quarterback, because to have your eyes down the whole time as a head coach, to me, is not the first fit. Now, that being said, there hasn’t been a game that has gone by that I’m not involved with every single call and listening to every call and making sure that it’s what we’ve agreed upon going in.”

Ohio State enters the Cotton Bowl as a 10-point favorite against Miami. The Buckeyes are also the favorite to win the national championship at 31 percent, according to The Athletic’s Austin Mock. If Ohio State does win the championship, Day will be the first head coach since Jimbo Fisher at Florida State in 2013 to win a title while calling plays.

Smith details injury

For the first time since the days leading up to Ohio State’s Nov. 15 game against UCLA, Jeremiah Smith said he is 100 percent healthy.

Talking about the injury for the first time, the All-American receiver said he was dealing with a quad strain that kept him out of the second half against UCLA and the Rutgers game the week after. It was so bad, in fact, that in the days after the Rutgers win, he didn’t think he would play against Michigan.

“I was worried about missing that game,” Smith said. “That was the biggest game for me. I didn’t want to miss that game, so I did everything I could.”

The strain happened in practice, he said, and was originally thought to require a three- to four-week recovery.

He didn’t want to wait that long and did everything he could to get back on the field. He was able to play against Michigan (three catches for 40 yards and a touchdown) and Indiana (eight catches for 144 yards), but he hasn’t been fully healthy until this extended break before the Cotton Bowl.

Tate was also dealing with an injury, but he is healthy going into the Playoff. Though Tate also played in the past two games, the Dec. 31 game will be the first time that both receivers are fully healthy together since the 38-14 win over Penn State on Nov. 1.

“It’s great to have these guys healthy again and practicing,” Day said. “Big part of the rhythm, too, is the practicing and the confidence and the timing of everything that goes with the passing game, so having these guys out there on the field for practice is building everybody’s confidence.”

This news was originally published on this post .

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