Ohio State HC Ryan Day seems to be seriously considering giving up play-calling duties

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day has been calling plays for the Buckeyes since being named Urban Meyer's offensive coordinator back in 2017.

That's a long time to be at the helm of an offense, and Day clearly felt strong enough about keeping his grip on play-calling that he held on to those duties when he became head coach in 2019.

It's hard to separate an offensive-minded head coach and his call sheet, and there are few college or NFL head coaches known for enjoying the idea of giving up power. However, coming off a 2022 season that saw OSU make the College Football Playoff but lose in the semifinal to Georgia (not to mention the program's second straight blowout loss to Michigan in the regular season), it does sound like Day is seriously considering letting newly promoted offensive coordinator Brian Hartline take over play-calling.

The big thing for Day is that he wants to make sure he can have his hand in every facet of the team moving forward — especially as the Buckeyes get deeper into the season and the games get more important.

"Trying to figure out how to best remedy that, just making sure that I'm evaluating myself as the head coach the right way, and there's a lot of different things that are changing on a daily basis," Day explained, per ESPN's Heather Dinich. "Whether that's giving up the play-calling and let Brian do it or not, we'll decide that here in the next few months probably."

It's worth noting that Hartline will call plays during spring ball for the Buckeyes. He's also considered one of the top position coaches in football, having helped OSU produce a bevy of NFL-ready wide receivers since taking over as interim wide receivers coach in 2018. 

Still, the "discarded coaches dumpster" is full of great coordinators who couldn't cut it as head coaches and even more solid position coaches who couldn't cut it as coordinators.

Day would be taking quite a risk by giving Hartline full responsibility for the offense, especially considering how explosive it has been under his watchful eye over the years. Perhaps a change at play-caller is just what the Buckeyes need to take the next step, though, so it will be interesting to see what the OSU head coach eventually decides to do.