One thing about college football has been quite evident within three weeks into the new year: Ohio State is clearly all-in for 2024.To be honest, regardless of the year, that remark usually holds true.
After all, throughout the previous few decades, the Buckeyes have been a continuous threat to win the national championship and the only team in the sport to continually avoid uncharacteristic performances or any kind of downward trend. Regardless of the historical period you’re revisiting, OSU has begun almost every football season with the players available in Columbus and the head coach in charge, making it possibly the program’s most distinctive feature
On Thursday night, when a source told FOX Sports that Bill O’Brien, the most recent offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots, would be joining Ohio State as the team’s new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, that reality felt evident once more.
Ryan Day’s audacious move is part of an offseason full of reinventions at the Woody Hayes Center, most of which have only helped to solidify the Buckeyes’ ranking in the top five of the early 2024 polls ahead of a crucial season.
O’Brien’s most recent employment in Foxborough under now-former head coach Bill Belichick did not end well in 2023, which may have influenced the initial, tame response to the hire. Nevertheless, the veteran coach has a track record of success as an offensive coordinator and quarterback developer at both the professional and collegiate levels.
Just two years ago, while still at Alabama, he called plays that helped Bryce Young win the Heisman Trophy and put the Crimson Tide in the top 10 in terms of scoring offensively both of the seasons. Before that, he was a part of some of Tom Brady’s best statistical years with the Patriots and had the Houston Texans as a constant postseason threat. O’Brien’s next professional move was to Ohio State, and there was plenty on his resume to make people pay note, especially after he skillfully navigated a difficult scenario while managing a Penn State program through the fallout from the Jerry Sandusky scandal.
The message from the man who made this kind of hire is maybe even more noteworthy.
Without a doubt, Day has felt the fire from his own fan base over the past few months, even with his still-difficult-to-fathom 56-8 record as head coach. Even though outsiders are unable to comprehend the source of such sentiment, one only needs to observe the 44-year-old’s glum and dejected demeanor following his third straight defeat by rival Michigan in November of last year – the program’s gold standard.
Things were further emphasized by the fact that the Wolverines went on to win the College Football Playoff national championship in Houston. Though his rival on the opposing side of The Game, the former bogeyman turned superstar, has it far worse than anyone at the moment, Jim Harbaugh does not.
In response to those eight losses, Day has altered his approach rather than intensifying the strategy that has yielded an 88% victory ratio.
Hiring O’Brien would almost certainly entail abandoning playcalling and having Day adopt his previously declared objective of wearing a headset considerably more akin to a CEO. That was intended to be the situation the previous season when Brian Hartline, the wide receivers coach, was promoted to offensive coordinator.
That ultimately didn’t work out, though, both in practice and during games. Throughout every attacking series, the head coach persisted in sticking his nose deep in the playsheet and making calls that never seemed to be carried out to the full potential. The Ohio State offensive was more ineffective than it had ever been under Jim Tressell, and the team’s output dropped to just 30.5 points per game—nearly two touchdowns less than it had under his leadership.
O’Brien steps in, and his job is to not only take that off Day’s plate going forward, but also to revitalize and reform the entire unit.
It’s not the only thing Day has done this offseason to make up for past inadequacies. Perry Eliano, the OSU assistant coach for safeties, and Parker Fleming, the coach for special teams, were let go. Is the writing on the wall for the current QB coach, Corey Dennis, with O’Brien entering?
In terms of personnel, Day has shown himself to be as astute as he has brutal. Kyle McCord, the starting quarterback, appeared to heed the hint and click on the portal, arriving at a Syracuse that was in the process of rebuilding. Following a dull Cotton Bowl defeat to Missouri, the Buckeyes wasted little time in pursuing much sought-after gateway target Will Howard. Howard, a crucial player in Kansas State’s Big 12 championship season, has one more year remaining on his eligibility.
All-SEC running back Quinshon Judkins joined not long after and the offense was bolstered further by Alabama center Seth McLaughlin. The atmosphere surrounding an offense that was once the most prolific in the Big Ten but was instead the most confusing in 2023 is definitely much better when you factor in players like wide receiver Emeka Egbuka and tailback TreVeyon Henderson who chose to stay in Columbus for another season rather than play in the NFL.
With new internal dynamics to navigate along with the external pressures of leading Ohio State, Day finds the momentum from all of this to be a bit of a double-edged sword.
First off, the institution has a new president in Ted Carter, a tough-ass former admiral who, during his time at the Naval Academy and most recently at Nebraska, has made no secret of the value placed on football. Choosing to move to Columbus and take on the role is undoubtedly a legacy-defining decision, and you can guarantee that the former hockey star won’t watch from the sidelines while the university’s reputation suffers both on and off the field while he’s in charge.
In Columbus, a new athletic director is about to assume over. It often causes a stir of anxiety around town when someone new joins the department and doesn’t get the head coach, but with senior administrator Gene Smith retiring, it feels quite fitting.
Although the replacement for the latter was brought in with the intention of stepping up the Buckeyes’ non-intercollegiate league campaign and helping the school through some major existential issues, Day may not find it comforting that new AD Ross Bjork’s most noteworthy action as Texas A&M’s head coach was to fire Jimbo Fisher just three months prior, $77 million buyout be damned.
Though Ohio State seems fully confident that Day is not a John Cooper remake, allowing him the flexibility and resources to make the required adjustments as a next step, such nagging ideas are not nearly relevant just yet. Until late November, the decision about O’Brien’s hiring as well as the numerous other significant actions that came before and after it will remain unsettled.
In the interim, Ohio State is unquestionably making every effort to suggest, via words and deeds alike, that the 2024 campaign has the potential to become one of the most memorable in program history.
By strategically planning these actions before of this fall’s football season, Day has demonstrated his keen awareness of the stakes. There are no more justifications available.
Not with Michigan burdening the scarlet and gray uniforms with a three-game losing streak. Not with college football’s highly anticipated 12-team playoffs debuting, offering more paths to the grand prize. Not with O’Brien and a host of others piling on the skepticism that has accumulated over the past few years as we approach a pivotal year in Columbus.
Every decision the Buckeyes and their head coach have made has only served to confirm that they are fully committed to 2024.
