Ad Disclosure
Ohio State’s starting QB might be known to Ryan Day, but he’s not dropping any hints
By Jeff Gilbert
Published:
INDIANAPOLIS — Ryan Day keeps his decision-making process to himself. He doesn’t talk about what will sway his decisions. And he never drops hints.
A big decision — the one fans want to know the most — will come sometime in August. Who will be Ohio State’s next starting quarterback?
Does Day know? Does he have an inkling? He’s not saying.
And there’s no tricking Day into a premature answer. The first question he got when he faced reporters Wednesday at the Big Ten’s opening media day at Lucas Oil Stadium: “Who is going to be your backup quarterback going into camp?”
Day smiled. But he didn’t bite. He never does.
Day’s options are third-year Kyle McCord and second-year Devin Brown. Neither of them were in Indianapolis. Those three spots were reserved for established starting players: wide receiver Marvin Harrison, tight end Cade Stover and defensive end JT Tuimoloau.
“They’ve both had very good summers, they both have shown leadership,” Day said of his quarterbacks. “Now it’s going to be time to go put it on the field. We obviously would like for someone to emerge here quickly. But we’ll have to see once we get on the field.”
McCord seems to be the leader heading into training camp. But that’s more by default than performance. McCord competed in the April 15 spring game. Brown was injured. Both will be in camp soon and presumably in perfect health.
Day’s habit as head coach has been to name a starter in training camp. There was no doubt Justin Fields would be the starter when he arrived from Georgia. But Day didn’t make that official until August. Bonus points if you can name the others who were in on that so-called competition.
Fields excelled. CJ Stroud won the job next as a redshirt freshman over then true freshman McCord. That Stroud would win the job was never really in doubt because he had a year in the program.
When Urban Meyer was still head coach and Day was the offensive coordinator, there was a real competition between Dwayne Haskins and Joe Burrow. But Haskins was declared the winner in the spring. That was a Meyer decision with obvious Day input.
The Buckeyes open at Indiana on Labor Day weekend. No one doubts the Buckeyes will win. So Day was asked if he would consider entering that game without a clear-cut starter. Would he be willing to play both of them?
“When you go into these situations you’d like for someone to emerge during camp,” he reiterated. “But who knows if that’s going to happen or not. You’d like to see somebody emerge, and then you name them just like we’ve done with CJ and Justin and Dwayne. But if that doesn’t happen, then maybe that is the case and we’ll have to evaluate it from there. I know we’ve got to go in and win that first game on the road, so we’re going to do everything we can do and what’s right for Ohio State.”
Day said in the spring that leadership will be at the top of the list when he makes a decision. Presumably he will make the decision in concert with new offensive coordinator and wider receivers coach and recruiter extraodinaire Brian Hartline.
McCord and Brown aren’t carbon copies of each other. McCord is the pocket passer who can move around a little and pick up a first down when he really needs to. Brown is the guy who can move around more freely, pick up the first down and more, and still complete passes from the pocket.
Day has coached both types. Haskins and Stroud stayed in the pocket. Fields threw from the pocket, but his running ability made him dangerous.
In the spring, Day gave these vague answers to the question about style of quarterback.
“When you’re looking at the ideal thing, there really isn’t the ideal.”
“When you can create and extend, it’s really the X factor when the quarterback can do that.”
“There’s a lot of factors and variables that come into it, and each quarterback’s a little different.”
Surmise what you will from that, but the way was left open to either one winning the job. However, coaches tend to lean toward what’s most comfortable to them. And for Day, that seems like McCord.
But he’s not telling.