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Ryan Day says spring football possible, wants January start date
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Ohio State head coach Ryan Day stole some headlines on Wednesday, saying that he and athletic director Gene Smith are still exploring options to play football in the fall. While that may still be on the table, the Buckeyes aren’t moving forward without a plan.
That plan, at least in Columbus, is to start working on potentially playing a spring season. While it’s loaded with complications, Day says that it is manageable to do, and that a fall season in 2021 could also be played.
Planning, though, needs to start now.
“It’s got to be weeks,” Day said about when the B1G needs to get a spring plan together. “It can’t be months.”
Day’s idea for playing a season in the spring is to begin in early January and shorten the season down to eight games, likely all conference matchups.
“I think the first week of January would be the best way to go,” Day said, according to Dan Hope of Eleven Warriors. He believes that would provide enough distance between the end of a spring season and the beginning of a fall season to allow players time to recover.
The other important factor at play is recruiting. If the other Power 5 conferences — ACC, SEC, Big 12 — intend on playing in the fall, Day says the B1G has to play in the spring in an effort to get some exposure to recruits in upcoming classes.
No specifics have been provided by the B1G. It sounds like Day and Ohio State already have a pretty decent plan drawn up for a spring schedule.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB