Ohio State’s Ryan Day has pulled out all the stops — and now must deliver

It’s not that Ohio State likely leveraged a war chest from a prodigious collective to recruit players to join the 2024 Buckeyes. It’s that Lane Kiffin believed it was worth tweeting a link to a story that claimed the Buckeyes had spent $13 million on players in the transfer portal.

Kiffin, head coach at Ole Miss, has put together a transfer portal class including former Texas A&M defensive tackle Walter Nolen, LSU running back Logan Diggs, Oklahoma safety Key Lawrence and Florida edge rusher Princely Umanmielen. When the portal window closed, the Rebels had the No. 1-ranked transfer class in the nation.

Then Alabama head coach Nick Saban announced his retirement. Players who had signed on to be coached by Saban entered the portal and the best programs in the country came after them. Perhaps no program has done more to add quality players to its roster than Ohio State.

Since losing wideout Marvin Harrison, Jr., running back Miyan Williams and defensive tackle Michael Hall Jr. to the NFL Draft, and quarterback Kyle McCord (Syracuse) and wideout Julian Fleming (Penn State) to the transfer portal, Ryan Day has taken the “Portal King” crown from Kiffin.

In the month of January, Day and the Buckeyes have added former Kansas State quarterback Will Howard, former five-star and Alabama quarterback commit Julian Sayin, former All-SEC and Ole Miss running back Quinshon Judkins, former Alabama center Seth McLaughlin and former Alabama safety Caleb Downs.

Howard came off the bench in 2022 to lead K-State to a Big 12 title over a 12-0 Texas Christian team. Sayin is regarded as the most accurate passer in the 2024 class with a fluidity that reminds some of former Heisman winner Bryce Young. Judkins has rushed for at least 1,100 yards in each of his first two seasons in college football. McLaughlin can be the best center in the country if he learns to snap the ball without mistakes, and Downs was the best defensive back in the country last year.

It’s a haul.

But bringing in a loaded transfer class like the Buckeyes have done will come with massive expectations. In fact, it’s not hard to see why many expect this 2024 Ohio State team to be a national title winner. Anything less will be considered a bust. It seems unfair to Day, who owns a 56-8 record and has led Ohio State to two Big Ten titles, three College Football Playoff appearances and a national title game appearance in 2020. But that’s only if you’re not a Buckeye fan.

If you are a Buckeye fan, Day is on the wrong end of a three-game losing streak against Michigan and has watched the Wolverines win the last three Big Ten titles, make the CFP three years in a row and succeed in going 15-0 with a national championship this past season. If you’re a Buckeye fan, this is untenable. And with a new athletic director in Ross Bjork, who has shown he’ll fire a head coach for having a program stuck in neutral — even if that means a $77 million buyout — then it’s not difficult to see how patience will be in short supply for the 2024 Buckeyes.

It’s a proud fan base, and a tough fan base. One that not only expects to win, but does not expect to go a full decade without a national title. It’s a program that has been featured in the AP Top 25 poll at least once every year since 1968. The standard, like the one at Alabama, is not simply winning, but dominating opponents, especially hated rivals.

No one understands that better than Day, who I once asked to say something nice about Michigan. His answer? “No.”

After being a missed field goal away from defeating Georgia last year in the Peach Bowl, Buckeye fans openly asked if Day was the man to coach their team. And his response was that those fans were right to ask because he understands the expectations of the job. He doesn’t get to dismiss them, and he doesn’t get to act as if they don’t matter.

Day’s victories in the transfer portal is yet another deceleration of such. In addition to his recent portal haul, he is also adding the No. 1 wide receiver in the country in Jeremiah Smith and a top-50 recruit and four-star quarterback in Air Noland. Five-star wide receivers Carnell Tate and Brandon Inniss are there waiting to join Emeka Egbuka in what should be yet another talented receiving unit.

The bulk of the defense that turned out to be one of the best in the country last year is set to return, including defensive ends Jack Sawyer and JT Tuimoloau, and defensive backs Denzel Burke, Jordan Hancock, David Igbinosun and Lathan Ransom. And just to make sure Day can get his offense back to running up the score, he has added Bill O’Brien, who has been a head coach in the NFL (Texans) and in the Big Ten (Penn State), as well as an offensive coordinator in the SEC (Alabama).

Everything that can be done at Ohio State to win games, win championships and win against Michigan is being done by Day. The question remains — and will remain until Nov. 30 when The Game is played — will that be enough?

Teasingly, I sent a Buckeye friend a text on Tuesday, saying it had been 1,515 days since Ohio State last beat Michigan.

“We count by the minute,” he replied.

That’s what it means to be the head coach at Ohio State. If there has ever been a head coach to throw a Killer Instinct combo breaker by heading into the transfer portal, it’s Ryan Day. But nothing short of supreme victory will suffice.

RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the podcast “The Number One College Football Show.” Follow him on Twitter at @RJ_Young and subscribe to “The RJ Young Show” on YouTube.

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