National signing day: Ryan Day and Ohio State breathe a sigh of relief

Ryan Day was in the middle of his signing day news conference, discussing a new crop of Ohio State Buckeyes, when the program’s general manager, Mark Pantoni, conveyed a message to him.

Jeremiah Smith, the five-star wide receiver and top recruit in the 2024 class, had just committed to Ohio State during an event at his Miami-area school.

“Really?” Day asked.

Really, he was told. The nation’s top player was in the fold after weeks of speculation that he might be a late flip to either Miami or Florida State.

Day exhaled.

“Jeez,” he muttered before pretending he was about to faint.

It still wouldn’t be that easy. Smith didn’t send in his signed letter of intent to make it official until 10 p.m. ET. The Athletic reported his representatives were working out the NIL details in Columbus, even as Miami kept pushing. Whatever tension that created, Day could live with it. That’s how recruiting works.

He’d already held off a ferocious late push from Alabama to flip five-star defensive end Eddrick Houston from Buford, Georgia. This isn’t a job for the faint of heart.

Ohio State finished with the fifth-ranked recruiting class, per Rivals.com, a 20-man outfit whose average star ranking of 3.95 is best in the nation.

That’s a huge win for Ohio State and a much-needed one for Day, who despite his 56-7 record wasn’t having the smoothest time since losing to Michigan less than a month ago.

Since then, 15 Buckeyes entered the transfer portal, including, most notably, starting quarterback Kyle McCord. Coupled with the expected NFL departures and those out of eligibility, the roster was about as in flux as you ever see at a program such as Ohio State.

Then came the run-up to signing day. Just this week, two four-star recruits decommitted to sign elsewhere: wide receiver Jeremiah McClellan to Oregon and running back Jordan Lyle to Miami. They followed a late-November decommit from five-star defensive end Justin Scott, who also flipped to Miami.

So Smith would have been the third big-time prospect lost to the Hurricanes and coach Mario Cristobal, who by hauling in local talent has to be making national programs think twice about how aggressively they want to recruit South Florida in the future. Miami, now with consecutive top-10 national recruiting classes for the first time in decades, is again formidable, at least on signing day.

Ohio State is about the last program anyone has to worry about when it comes to talent. The Buckeyes are always good. That said, you can understand why Ryan Day was sighing with relief when word arrived that he had held on to Smith and Houston.

Wednesday could've been a disaster.

“Ultimately,” Day said, “we want to have the best roster in the country come August.”

In many years, Ohio State does — or is at least close. No other school outside of the southeast recruits as well as the Buckeyes. Day knows that the only way to beat the Alabamas and Georgias on the field is to first beat them off it for the recruits they covet.

When asked what he looks for when hiring assistant coaches, he didn't hesitate.

“The first thing is recruiting,” Day said. “That’s the No. 1 thing. You have to recruit [the] position [you coach]. You are the head coach of your position. It is your job to have the best room in the country. When you are at Ohio State and you are coaching the receivers, it should be ‘Wide Receiver U.’ If you are coaching the linebackers, it should be ‘Linebacker U.’”

This group should help with some of that. If Marvin Harrison Jr. is headed to the top five of the NFL Draft, then current freshman and former five-star recruit Carnell Tate is set to step in, followed by Jeremiah Smith, of course, as the next potential great pass-catcher in Columbus.

Depth of talent has always been one of Ohio State’s strengths. These recruiting classes pile up, and the wins follow. It has been that way since before Woody Hayes. Urban Meyer came along and went increasingly national. Day has followed suit.

So at least Buckeyes fans have something positive to celebrate this offseason. The weeks after that third consecutive loss to the Wolverines were bleak, and the bowl game against Missouri is a far cry from the playoffs, but it will be a chance for Devin Brown to prove he can succeed McCord, who beat him out of the job back in summer camp.

“This [game] is going to be Devin’s to play,” Day said.

If that doesn’t materialize, maybe Ohio State goes hunting for a quarterback in the portal this spring. Or it turns to a younger player, including top-100 signee Air Noland from Fairburn, Georgia. We’ll see.

If nothing else, Day looked energized and enthused Wednesday, a day that could've gone very differently.

If in the minutes after the loss in Ann Arbor he looked like a broken and beaten man, this was a coach excited not just by the signing day flips that never materialized but also by the possibilities that lie ahead for his Buckeyes.

Hope springs eternal on signing day.