COLUMBUS — Ohio State head coach Ryan Day met with the media on Monday following Ohio State’s fall camp practice No. 5.
Here are the highlights of what was said.
Ryan Day
+ It was great to watch the Pro Football Hall of Fame inductions. He liked to hear the speeches. It was also sad to see that Coach Bowden passed away this past week. It makes him think about his legacy as a coach and send prayers to the Bowden family.
+ It will benefit the offensive line and the players if they are able to move around a bit. They like to mix and match them to figure out the best five players. The end of this week or next week they would like to find the best five.
+ On finding a starting center, Day said the chemistry is important and that’s why a lot of guys are rolling in and out of that spot.
+ On embracing NIL, Day said he has not seen any distraction from any players right now. Some players have used it to put some money in their pockets but they have been smart with it. They understand if their grades and football aren’t right, their opportunities will be affected. They have done a good job prioritizing everything.
+ On Miyan Williams, Day said the running back room has a lot of depth. Miyan has had a really good camp. All five players are getting a lot of reps. Master Teague III looks good. The reps will get prioritized after about two weeks.
+ On J.T. Tuimoloau, Day said the feedback from coach Larry Johnson has been a treasonous attention to detail, takes a lot of notes, very conscientious. He has made up a lot of ground in a short bit of time. He still has moments where he doesn’t know what to do but you can see the flashes.
+ On moving into the hotel, Day said it was that routine that they missed last year. They are always together, coaches do bed checks, wake up to blow horns. It builds camaraderie but provides routine.
+ On leadership, Day said he is very impressed with Thayer Munford’s leadership. Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson have worked really hard. Their attitude has been excellent. There is a lot of energy on the defensive side of the ball. Zach Harrison has shown a lot of leadership. He is very impressed with Traadja Mitchell, he has been very vocal swstepping up in front of the team to speak.
+ On finding a starting quarterback, Day said Wednesday and Saturday will be big days. After this week they will have a pretty good feel.
+ On Jeremy Ruckert, Day said he is at a certain point physically so he has been working on the mental side of things. “A lot of maturity with him.” His mental approach has been good.
+ On Dawand Jones, Day said he has grown a lot in three years. “He’s a basketball player learning to play football. I joke with him that he’s the largest skill payer of all time.” A lot of the other lineman have come up to Day and said that Jones has been doing a good job. He has the ability and has flashed, but now he has to do it consistently. His consistency is much further along than in the spring. “Once he embraces that [the grind] the sky is the limit for him.”
+ Steele Chambers would like to stay at linebacker full time. “He has really upgraded that room.”
+ On putting on lower pads starting on Tuesday, Day said he would have liked to have them on earlier. Helmets and shoulder pad practices are the same just without the tackling to the ground but the players still are getting contusions on their legs. “I strongly disagree with it.”
+ Tackling is important to practice early on because they have to work on tackling and ball security with the running backs.
+ He tells the quarterbacks that if they can survive the practices with him yelling at them, then they can handle a game. “The pressure has never been higher for those guys.” It takes a village to coach the quarterbacks, they have to have cohesion in that room. He tells them that the last time they won a National Championship it took three quarterbacks.
+ On Denzel Burke, Day said he can’t tell Burke’s a freshman. He takes it seriously and he has the right approach. He has created some discipline and skill. He doesn’t back down.
+ On offense, he finds what they can hang their hat on and then do it well as opposed to being a jack of all trades. “What are we going to get really good at? Who are we on offense and what is our identity going to be?” Day said he thought about that going into practice on Monday.
+ Sevyn Banks tweaked something and hasn’t been out there as much.
+ Josh Proctor is like an eraser, he takes away big plays.
+ Kerry Coombs is going to run the defense and he trusts him and the position coaches on defense. He lets them do their jobs. Day mentions things but lets them do their jobs.
