Ryan Day addresses where Ohio State’s NIL situation stands in changing landscape
There aren’t many programs in the country that seem to be adapting to the changes of the college football landscape quite like the Ohio State Buckeyes. From landing four players through the transfer portal ranked within the top 20 of On3’s 2024 College Football Transfer Portal Top Player Rankings to the success of their NIL Collective ‘THE Foundation’, the Buckeyes simply seem ahead of the curve.
Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day was specifically asked about the ever changing NIL landscape on Wednesday, breaking down the constant evolution and how they’ve been adapting in Columbus.
“Well like you said, it changes all the time. Boy it’s changed in the last year, it changed in December, and it’s probably gonna change again in May. So it’s something that we all have to adapt to and we’re working hard and I think everybody involved has been working really hard to make sure that we’re where we need to be to be competitive,” Day said.
“And so we’ll keep trying to adapt the best we can knowing that I’m sure there are changes coming again in the next couple months. I think all that is very important, but what’s most important is guys embracing the culture and knowing that when they come in the building every day they’re going to be part of a program that cares about each other, got a great locker room, got a great staff, and got a fan base that’s gonna support them.”
For quite some time now Ohio State has always been regarded as one of the premier college football programs in the nation, and as NIL has become more prominent in the sports, the Buckeyes have been leaning on their previous strengths and recruiting while adding a new one through their collective.
New transfer portal additions like Caleb Downs, Quinshon Judkins, and Will Howard have already partnered with THE Foundation and The 1870 Society NIL entity. Which has come with some outside pushback against the Buckeyes regarding their potential excessive spending in the NIL and recruiting space, which Day also responded to.
“Recruiting’s always going to be competitive, it is, and so that’s just kind of how it goes and we’re always trying to bring in the best talent we possibly can. But also the right culture fit for Ohio State, and I’ve said this before, you don’t just bring anybody in here. But all these guys wanted to be here, I think that’s probably the most significant,” Day explained. “Caleb wanted to be here, Quinshon wanted to be here, Will wanted to be here, these weren’t situations where certainly you have to recruit but we want guys who want to be here.”
There’s no question that the Buckeyes have leaned into the NIL space, with Day making a pitch in June of 2022 to the Columbus business community for a $13 million NIL budget to keep Ohio State at the top of the sport. That paired with Day giving up his offensive playcalling duties and showing a clear understanding of the nuances of college athletics could set the Buckeyes up for many more successful offseasons in the future beyond just 2024.
“Because in the portal nowadays if they don’t like it they can just leave. So a big part of that is opening up our doors and our players, really recruiting our guys and that’s really where over time we’ve built a culture of development, we’ve built a culture where guys enjoy being with each other, and that kind of recruits itself over time. And so we’re counting on that to continue to build us some momentum in the future. But we know recruiting is very very competitive and it’s our job as coaches, certainly as the head coach, to acquire as much talent as you can and then go develop it,” Day concluded.