COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ryan Day will call the offensive plays for Ohio State during the College Football Playoff, beginning with the Dec. 31 quarterfinal game at the Cotton Bowl against Miami.
Brian Hartline was the offensive play caller during the Buckeyes regular season, but accepted the head coaching position at South Florida on Dec. 3. Hartline remains on the Buckeyes' staff through the CFP and is coaching the wide receivers.
“It’s such a strange calendar and the timing is brutal. But he’s handled it great, as you can imagine,” Day said Monday. “It’s a lot on his plate. It’s a lot to manage. So we’re kind of taking it day to day right now, just in terms of as we move forward.”
Day said putting together the game plan remains a group effort with co-offensive coordinator/tight ends coach Keenan Bailey, Carlos Locklyn (running backs), Billy Fessler (quarterbacks) and Tyler Bowen (offensive line) equally involved.
Day called plays on offense the first five years he was Ohio State's head coach. He turned over those duties to Chip Kelly in 2024 and gave them to Hartline this season when Kelly left for the NFL.
Over the past couple seasons, Day said he has done a better job of learning how to manage the game.
“I think it’s more just about when you’re not calling it, your eyes aren’t down on the call sheet. You’re with the defense. You’re watching the offense. You’re watching the other side. You’re watching what’s going on as opposed to being down on your call sheet. And I think that’s where we got to be good upstairs,” Day said. “There’s not a game that’s gone by where I'm not involved or listening to every call and making sure it’s what we’ve agreed upon going in. So, it’s similar to the way it was before.”
The second-seeded Buckeyes (12-1) go into the Miami game with the fifth-ranked offense of the remaining eight teams, averaging 429.5 yards per game.
The 10th-seeded Hurricanes (11-2) advanced with a 10-3 victory over Texas A&M on Saturday.
“I know Coach Hartline will always continue to push me hard, no matter what it is," wide receiver Jeremiah Smith said. "But I always still want to be pushed, and I tell him to crank it up, because now it’s time to win another natty around here.”
Miami defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman is in his first season with the Hurricanes, but is no stranger to Ohio State. He was Minnesota's defensive coordinator in 2024 and was at Rutgers for two seasons (2022-23).
Even though Hetherman has experience going against the Buckeyes when Day called plays, he said it will take a couple series early in the game to see if there are any differences from earlier in the year under Hartline.
“Is it same way they’re using the personnel? Are they using it different? Are they using the same tempo or style of play? Are they changing it up? And that’s where early on, trying to go through and watch similar games, common opponents, similar defensive structures and styles, how they’ve tried to attack people and trying to go all the way back to the games from a couple years ago against them, trying to see what changes there are and what similarities there are,” he said. “I think that’s something just the first couple drives, after that first 10, we’re going to have to get a good feel for exactly how they’re calling it and what tempo they’re doing and how they’re trying to use their guys and deploy them in those areas.”
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