Ohio State head coach Ryan Day watches his team during the Ohio State vs. Clemson Sugar Bowl. Ohio State won 49-28. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Photo Editor
Since Ohio State football was thrust into uncharted territory last March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Buckeyes have become seasoned in navigating it.
With early enrollees starting to arrive in Columbus and spring practices starting up in March, the Buckeyes are already gearing up to avenge their 2021 national championship loss. Head coach Ryan Day said he was proud of how his team handled all the curve balls of last season as they enter the new offseason.
“I’m really proud of our whole program, for not only winning the Big Ten Championship and going on and making it to the national championship, but the fact that we really followed the protocol to keep our guys safe and we did a great job of it,” Day said Monday. “We did not cut any corners, we worked really hard to make sure our guys were safe but could also compete.”
After a shortened but arduous 2020 season, Day said the program is still trying to give players from last year’s team some rest before heading into another strange offseason.
“We’re kinda getting everybody out of here after a long, long run,” Day said. “I think it’s really important for everybody to take a deep breath and get away from each other. We missed our families, the players missed their families.”
In his time away from the team, Day said he spent some time in Florida with his family before heading to his home state of New Hampshire and then back to Ohio.
While the latest iteration of Ohio State football gains some rest and recuperation, the next generation of Buckeyes are starting to flood into Columbus.
Fifteen of Ohio State’s 21 signees for the 2021 class have arrived on campus and have begun taking classes.
However, the new Buckeyes have to undergo a week-long quarantine period before integrating back into the Ohio State community.
Following the quarantine period, Day said the early enrollees will begin workouts with Mickey Marotti, assistant athletic director for football sports performance, Feb. 1.
“I think all these guys wanna come here and compete, and so as soon as we can kinda get them going and learn how we do things and then they take off from there,” Day said. “You’re always gonna find guys, the guys who are really, really hungry, they’re gonna find ways to get going really quickly.”
As the COVID-19 pandemic impacted last season’s college football, it did the same for the sport at the high school level.
More than one-third of the incoming Buckeyes did not play in a high school football game in 2020. As a result of this, Day emphasized the need to get these players working with Marotti as soon as possible.
“We gotta do a great job getting them in here with Mick and figuring out where they are, what’s their baseline,” Day said. “I’m just interested to see what kind of shape they’re in, physically, football shape. It’s one thing to be able to play in high school as a junior, it’s another thing to be able to go play in the Big Ten.”
As the early enrollees prepare to get rolling with their new team, Day said the program is still ironing out a schedule for spring practices.
Spring practices are normally interrupted by spring break, which may cause the schedule to look a little different than it has in the past, Day said. Day also emphasized that practices may look a little different in order to fast-track development hindered by the shortened 2020 season.
“We’re gonna look at a different spring model on how we go about it, I’m gonna try to do as many game-like situations as possible,” Day said. “We’re still working through that on how we’re gonna organize it.”
With the Buckeyes heading into a new season that may look a bit more familiar to them, Day pointed to the fact that they will still likely be dealing with COVID-19 for the time being.
“COVID isn’t going away so it’s not like we all of a sudden can just get back to normal,” Day said. “But the goal is: How quickly can we get back to normal?”
