Ryan Day offers his view of walking his son through recruitment process as a parent

Ryan Day has coached and recruited more than his fair share of elite quarterbacks thoughout his near-decade at Ohio State, including several that are currently starting in the NFL. Justin Fields and C.J. Stroud are just two of his QB pupils, with Will Howard and Kyle McCord now joining the league after being selected in last week’s 2025 NFL Draft.

But as Day embarks on the other side of the recruiting process with his son, RJ Day, a 2027 quarteback recruit out of St. Francis DeSales in Columbus, the reigning national championship-winning Buckeyes coach has gained a unique perspective into the entire process. As a rising junior in high school, the younger Day hasn’t been rated by major recruiting services yet, but already has scholarship offers from most of the MAC.

“As fast as this is going, and has gone, knowing he’s going to be in college in two years is terrifying. He’s my best friend, so he comes to Woody (Hayes Athletic Complex) all the time, he’s at games with me and we’re able to share this game of football together. He’s obsessed with the game, so that’s been really cool,” Day told co-hosts Rece Davis and Pete Thamel on the recent ESPN College GameDay Podcast. “I think the other part is, just as a dad, now going through this (recruiting) process and then seeing the kids we’re recruiting the same age as him.

“You know, at the end of the day, when we go on these recruiting visits, I don’t really care about the facilities or the weight room. I just want to know who’s going to help raise my son. Who are the men that are going to be around to help him become a better football player, but a better man off the field, and is actually going to care about him. I think that makes us all better coaches when you look at it like that. And that’s the truth. Because you can really say it, but until you really go through it, it’s different.”

It’s that different perspective that could help Day, and by association Ohio State, both better evaluate and recruit elite quarterbacks to Columbus in the future. It may even pay major dividends with the Buckeyes’ current crop of quarterbacks as Lincoln Kienholz and Julian Sayin continue competing to be QB1 in 2025.

“I was talking to a couple of GMs in the NFL that were going through the process of trying to evaluate quarterbacks about why it’s been so hard for all of us to identify what quarterbacks are going to do well. It’s probably the biggest question mark of the last 30 years of the NFL,” Day continued. “I really believe there’s just so many things about the quarterback position that are unique. And it’s been great to see (RJ Day) come up through it, and being able to recognize that. So that even when guys are coming to us now, there’s certain things that we can recognize. It’s been fun to go through the process with him.

“He’s working really, really hard. He actually just went to a combine and ran a 4.76 (second 40-yard dash) and he’s really coming into his own. He’s put on about 20 pounds. So, I’m excited to see what this Spring looks like for him. But I know one day he’s going to be a coach, so all this time will be very well spent.”