Ryan Day’s press conference on Wednesday turned into a recruiting spot – not only for potential future Ohio State players, but also for the current members of his team.
With Tuesday’s decision by the Big Ten to postpone its fall sports season and attempt to play football in the spring semester, one of the biggest questions facing Ohio State right now is whether the top players will place themselves to playing in a potential winter or spring season. Fixed stars like Justin Fields and Shaun Wade could leave Ohio State now and be picks early on in the 2021 NFL draft, while also allowing players to transfer to ACC, SEC or Big 12 schools if these conferences continue with play this fall.
That said, Day makes his case to stick to all those players around – at least until they have more information on what the postponed season will look like and can make an informed decision about playing in that season meaning for them .
According to a report by Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated on Thursday morning, the Big Ten is exploring the possibility of starting an eight-game season starting in the first week of January – a plan Day is on board with – which would end in March. In turn, the NFL is also poised to move its Scouting Combine back to April and the concept back to late May or early June to meet a potential winter / spring season.
It’s still fair to doubt whether projected first-round picks like Fields and Wade should play in a short, non-traditional college football season that would give them less time to recover and prepare for the 2021 NFL season, but Day – asked specifically about Fields – is of the opinion that he will at least take some time to see what the Big Ten’s plan is before deciding if he should resign.
‘I think Justin wants to see what the scheme is, and I think it’s our job, and we owe it to these guys to make sure we put the scheme here and here (together) the plan so that someone like Justin can plan on his next year, his next months, ”Day said. ‘Us if it’s a spring season or a winter season or whatever works, I think we should start this in at least the first week of January, and that will give players like Justin the chance to play in the season and get him then also ready for the concept. But I think we need to do this exactly and get these guys some answers. ”
Even if Fields, Wade, or any other capitalist in Ohio State finally decides they do not want to play in a postponed season, Day does not think there should be any urgency to leave the program now. Even if they never play another snap for the Buckeyes, Day believes they would benefit from staying in Columbus this fall and continuing to train with their Ohio State coaches and teammates.
“Regardless of what happens, the NFL concept will not be until next spring. That we have everything in place here in Columbus to help those guys, ”Day said. We have the best strength coach in America (Mickey Marotti), we have all the resources they need here. We test (for COVID-19) continuously. We give them food. We will meet on football. Watch movie. And just make them physically better, football normal, football IQ, all of the above. And then if they happen to want to go ahead and go somewhere in the spring, they still have the whole spring to do so.
‘In a normal cycle they would at least not leave a place. So to go somewhere, for me, does not make much sense if you have everything you need here. And I also don’t like that they go away mentally somewhere and just isolate themselves, which is kind of what you are when you go to those places. That we’ll provide them with everything they need to get better and stronger, because we have resources here in Ohio State. ”
Shaun Wade is among the Ohio State players who now have to decide if they should stay for a potential spring season or shift his full focus to preparation for the 2021 NFL draft.
While Day has obvious incentives to encourage his players to hang around, especially if that means they have to be on the field for an extended season, Ohio State has a track record of developing NFL players – 69 draft picks in the last 10 year – this supports his claim that the program can continue to help prepare him for the next level.
If Ohio State players are skeptical a spring season will actually happen and desperately want to play this fall, transfers may also be a potential option when playing other conferences. Day acknowledged Wednesday that because the Buckeyes have talented players, he knows there are schools that are trying to convince his players to make that move at the moment.
Whether that would actually be a smart move for any of his players, however, remains highly questionable, given that these conferences could eventually postpone their seasons as well. Even if they do not, any player who transfers will have a short time to acclimatize to his new team before potentially playing in September, and it is highly uncertain whether the NCAA would immediately qualify those players, even though their autumn seasons were canceled.
“I’m sure there will be schools that reach our players,” Day said. “We have great players. But I do not see how that would be possible or even safe, for someone who would just go at this point and play in a few weeks. Certainly not safe to go try to learn a misdemeanor and move to a new place and all at the moment, and then try to get an exemption and all that in this short period of time. ”
That being said, Day acknowledges that many of his players have made difficult decisions to make as a result of the fall season being canceled, so he is pushing for the Big Ten to solidify its proposed season plan as soon as possible – within weeks, not months – so these players can decide if that’s something they want to try to play in.
“We need to give these guys this plan going forward to what’s next,” Day said. “We owe it to these guys.”
As of Thursday morning, no Ohio State players had publicly indicated that they would leave the program or cancel the spring season, although Jonathon Cooper – the only Buckeye to date who has spoken to the media since the season was canceled – told ESPN on Wednesday that he had not yet decided if he would remain a shot while playing his senior season.
