COLUMBUS — Ohio State head coach Ryan Day met with reporters Wednesday to talk about the Buckeyes’ 2020 signing class. Ohio State signed 24 players on Wednesday and will be waiting to hear from 4-star California cornerback Clark Phillips on Thursday and then 4-star Michigan athlete Cameron Martinez in February. Both Phillips and Martinez held off on signing today due to the departure of co-defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley. Here are the highlights of everything Ryan Day had to say.
+ “What a great day this has been. We think it’s an unbelievable class.”
+ Wanted to publicly thank the families for sticking with Ohio State.
+ 13 states represented, eight from Ohio. 14 will enroll early.
+ The class is full right now, though they are still waiting on two guys.
+ To get the defensive backs they did after losing Jeff Hafley tells you how much they want to be at Ohio State.
+ NFL GMs have come in to ask to watch practice film in order to scout the OSU secondary and that impresses recruits.
+ This gives unbelievable momentum going into the 2021 class.
+ Greg Studrawa did an unbelievable job in this class with the offensive line. Paris Johnson helped them in recruiting along with his mother Monica. “I owe them everything.”
+ However the decision for an early signing day came down, they weren’t thinking about teams in Ohio State’s situation with so much stuff going on in December. “I think we have to take a hard look at that.”
+ This is the strongest class of receivers that he can remember. Julian Fleming is a great young man with an awesome family. His family is going to support him very well. Jaxon Smith-Njigba had an unbelievable season. Gee Scott has people always saying great things about him. He’s been loyal from the get go. Mookie Cooper couldn’t play this year, but he’s a slot receiver with great short-area quickness who is looking forward to getting back on the field.
+ Gee Scott is special off the field as well. They noticed that early on and he has worked hard to put this class together through group texts.
+ Luke Wypler’s coach played at Boston College when Ryan Day was a coach there. Luke bought in from the beginning and never wavered at all. Great ceiling. “He’s definitely got some Jersey in him.”
+ It was huge to get two quarterbacks in this class. The transfer portal made it paramount. The idea is to have four quarterbacks in the room and that’s not easy to do. Jack Miller has been committed all along and has been loyal throughout without wavering. CJ Stroud came on a little later. Both are excited to come in here and fight for playing time. They won’t be fighting to start next year, but they could be battling to be the backup next year and if you are the backup, anything can happen.
+ “This offense is very quarterback friendly.”
+ You have to lean on the people around the players as well, asking about the players in order to find out more about them. The more people you trust, the more questions you ask of them. The mark of a good recruiter is asking a lot of questions.
+ Day’s not sure if the portal makes it easier to bring in two quarterbacks. “I hope not. I hope people don’t leave.” You deal with situations one at a time. The future at quarterback is better than it was yesterday.
+ The world has gotten smaller and when people see the Block O, they recognize it. “There are Buckeyes everywhere.”
+ There were players whose families didn’t want them going all the way to Ohio State and they wanted them to stay closer to home.
+ How did he pull off signing two quarterbacks? “It isn’t pulling it off.” Ohio State is a great opportunity for a quarterback.
+ Miyan Williams is a big, strong, physical, productive running back. Everybody in the area talked him up. They looked all over the country for a running back, but they had one in Ohio. “We just think he’s a great fit.”
+ “This is a great day for us.” The amount of work and time and travel that goes into a recruiting class, you can’t imagine.
+ Kourt Williams will probably be a captain eventually at Ohio State. He’s versatile and can do a lot of things.
+ This is a good group of offensive linemen. A couple who will challenge right away next year in Paris Johnson and Luke Wypler, and then some developmental guys who can sit and learn and get stronger and develop.
+ There was something about Ty Hamilton that Larry Johnson really liked.
+ Recruiting is not about making a sale, it’s about building relationships. It’s not about getting them to sign, it’s about making sure they’re successful when they’re here.
+ “We ask a lot of people about a lot of people.” Up until CJ Stroud played well at the Elite 11, he was an unknown guy. The OSU commits were telling Day about Stroud at the Elite 11/The Opening. They raved about his leadership.
+ The first thing he looks for in a quarterback is an extraordinary quality and then you suit the offense to that.
+ The transfer portal is never a conversation when recruiting quarterbacks. Joe Burrow got his degree from here. If you hang in, good things will happen to you.
+ Asked if there is room for another guy or two: “We might be able to make some room, yeah.” “We’re kind of right at the number right now, but there’s some wiggle room there.”
+ At this point last year, Enokk Vimahi and Dawand Jones weren’t really on their board, and to see the way they have developed this year has been great. They have played in games this year. Neither of those guys were early enrollees.
+ Why was Ohio State involved so much out west? There were good players out there with interest. “Lathan Ransom is going to be as good a safety as we’ve had here in a long time. I’m so excited that he’s part of this thing.”
+ “The Ohio guys are the foundation of this program.”
+ He is very proud of the fact that half of their starters going into the Fiesta Bowl will have already graduated. That goes to show you why they have had such a good season. This is a senior-laden team “and that matters.”
The “skill” players get all the headlines, but its the offensive and defensive line men who start every play.