The Ohio State Buckeyes have come far from their championship roster. Ryan Day kept on taking blows since the massive Michigan loss, a recurring curse in his career. A bunch of naysayers, a heap of trolls and memes, and a handful of death threats, Day has seen it all. However, he never allowed any of that negativity to affect him. Rather, he took those bumps as a challenge to lift the Natty. But wait, there is a hell and heaven difference between the fairytale heroics and reality. OSU could have ended a spot or so ahead of the ultimate pole slot. But they didn’t. Not by a fluke, but by sheer power play and dedication. But again, the misery continues, testing the coach’s patience.
Ryan Day has it all written on a pad. Starting from his big-game misery to a roster outflow, the man showcased huge resilience on and off the field. The recruitment front wasn’t a cakewalk as well. Neither Urban Meyer nor Jim Tressel nor any of his predecessors had to deal with the NIL conundrums. The team he had built over the years delivered him the Natty, but at what cost? The joy of the victory was overshadowed by several key members announcing their portal moves. They have lost some players through the draft window as well. The withdrawal list includes Will Howard, Quinshon Judkins, TreVeyon Henderson, J.T. Tuimoloau, and others.
But it’s not the depth they have lost. Day jumped on the portal and reloaded the roster following the mass exodus. The Buckeyes have added four new players: former West Virginia offensive tackle Justin Terry, former North Carolina defensive end Beau Atkinson, former Ball State kicker Jackson Courville, and former North Carolina long snapper Grant Mills this spring. But the new roster consists of a chunk of newbies and walk-ons. “We still have a lot of talent, what we lost the most was experience,” Day breathed a sigh in a post-game interview.
Day didn’t lose a single scholarship player on the spring portal. But again, the $20 million budget alone won’t help him maintain the standard of the defending champions. He needs to make the best out of what he has. He needs to make the recipe with all the ingredients. Spring served as a crucial platform for the trials and tests.
“Today’s an opportunity to get more experience of playing in front of a crowd, getting a game experience under their belt, which is going to be important. So, we’ll grade it just like a game and use it as an opportunity to get ourselves ready for the first game,” Day piqued hope in a conversation with B1g Network.
However, he still faces the flak of a readymade championship roster from last year.
Ryan Day dismisses the ‘Natty’ roster brickbats
The school’s $20 million budget last year has been a big head-turner among rivals who accuse them of buying the Natty with money. Sure, having more money means getting more access to world-class talents, as NIL takes center stage in the recruitment saga these days. But come on, it is crucial to manage the roster properly following the portal inflow.
The claims also aim for an overflow of homegrown players in Columbus. It is not wrong. But it’s not solely because of the money. In a candid interview with CBS Sports’ Josh Pate, Day broke down the secret of creating a home-grown nucleus, including Jack Sawyer, Emeka Egbuka, Donovan Jackson, and more.
“The truth of the matter is that the majority of those guys were all guys that decided to come back or were already on the team that we recruited and developed,” Day cleared the air. “We did add six or seven guys, but not 15, not 20, where we just went out there and just got the best players in college football. That wasn’t the case. That’s not what won us a championship.”
The hustle continues for the Buckeyes to be the best of the best for the second consecutive year as they look to solidify their dominance in the franchise, surpassing all the aching memories.
The post Ryan Day Confirms OSU’s Biggest Loss After Championship With a Major Spring Game Announcement appeared first on EssentiallySports.