Day on UW's Ben Burr-Kirven: "You can tell he is kind of the heartbeat of that whole defense."
LOS ANGELES — Ohio State offensive coordinator Ryan Day will take over for Urban Meyer as the Buckeyes’ head coach following Tuesday’s Rose Bowl against Washington, and that succession plan was certainly a key talking point when Day took to the podium for a press conference Saturday morning in downtown Los Angeles.
Day, 39, played quarterback at New Hampshire for what was then a little-known offensive coordinator named Chip Kelly.
Kelly, now the UCLA coach, was in attendance at an Ohio State practice this week. Day talked about their relationship, the Washington defense, Ohio State QB Dwayne Haskins and more. Here’s a partial transcript:
You’ve been so busy with everything, recruiting, everything, getting ready for this game. Has it sunk in that you’re going to be the head coach of Ohio State?
RYAN DAY: Every day a little bit more. Like you said, a lot going on. The first thing on the list was recruiting, and obviously that went really, really well. Now it’s getting ready for this bowl game. But every day a little bit more.
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Has that been tough to manage at all, Urban wants to be in charge for his last game, you want to plan for the future. Has there been anything — you have to manage that and walk that line —
RYAN DAY: Not at all, not at all. It’s actually been even smoother than I thought it would be. It’s been really good and things have been kind of business as usual, and then on the 2nd we go from there.
When you look at this game, Washington looks like one of the better secondaries maybe you faced this year. When you prepare for them, what do you see? What’s the challenge they pose?
RYAN DAY: Well, they have a great scheme. They’re very, very well coached. Jimmy Lake does a great job and the whole staff does a great job. They play very hard. They’re powerful up front. They don’t give up a lot of big plays. Their secondary does a great job of keeping things in front of them. They break on the ball really well and opportunistic obviously in turnovers.
What has it been about Dwayne that he seems to take his game to another level against the better defenses you face? What is it about him that allows him to thrive in those situations?
RYAN DAY: I go back to all the time, I just think what our offensive line has done to get him into a rhythm in these games is remarkable. You look at some of those games, he’s actually untouched at times, which is when he can set his feet in the pocket and throw the ball, that’s when he’s at his best.
And so much of it goes back to what those guys have done protecting for him and also the guys on the perimeter, creating space and winning their one-on-one matchups. He doesn’t have to hang on to the ball the ball gets out of his hands on time. Rhythm of our passing game is critical.
Saw Chip Kelly in practice the other day. Any highlights having to talk to him in person?
RYAN DAY: Other than seeing him and spending time with him and he and his wife and my wife, no, I think it’s always good to be around some of your mentors and spend time and talk through things.
And, again, obviously Urban’s a huge part of this thing moving forward for me as a mentor, and Chip is second; where you go to them for advice, they’ve been in this thing before, they’ve been a head coach. The thing that keeps coming back to me is just be yourself and trust your instinct because you’re built for this.
Is Dwayne as good a passer as you’ve coached in NFL or college?
RYAN DAY: I compare him to Matt Ryan and Sam Bradford. Those are the two guys I’ve been around that are in that same category right now their anticipation, their accuracy, the way the ball comes off their hand. I’d compare him to those two guys.
You’ve studied Washington, the linebacker, Ben Burr-Kirven, does he jump out at you?
RYAN DAY: It jumps out because it’s on every play. He’s right there every time. He’s a really good player. Diagnoses plays at a high, high level. Plays really hard. You can tell he is kind of the heartbeat of that whole defense. He’s what makes that defense goes, and the big guys up front eat a lot of blocks, and he runs to the ball and makes tackles. They’re tough, they make you work the ball down the field, and they’re really well coached.