Ryan Day explains importance of building on last year's experience

Head coach Ryan Day entered the 2021 season with national championship aspirations, hoping to avenge their loss the prior year. Between a tougher schedule and losing key players in key positions, the Ohio State Buckeyes came up short and ended their season in the Rose Bowl instead of the College Football Playoff.

However, not everything was a total bust, with players getting a vital year of experience throughout the journey. Day explained how the Buckeyes are going to build on that heading into the 2022 season, saying there won’t be as much doubt in his player’s minds.

“Yeah but also these guys are not 20-year vets in the NFL,” Day said. “They have a year under their belt and there’s still a lot of football left for them to learn. But everything, they’re not doing for the first time and that’s good. There’s a reference point to go back to going into this season as opposed to total unknown going into it which I feel like we had last year. When you have that, you have doubt in your mind. That’s just part of it and there’s a reference point for us, that’s important. We still have a lot of football to learn, a lot of work to do moving forward.”

Two of the biggest players returning for Day are quarterback CJ Stroud and running back TreVeyon Henderson. Both are coming back for the second year within the program, looking to get Ohio State back into the College Football Playoff. Going through a full 12 game season plus a tough bowl game against the Utah Utes will help, especially with opponents such as Notre Dame and Michigan heading to the Shoe.

Ryan Day discusses developing CJ Stroud in Year Two

One of the best returning quarterbacks in college football this season will come via the Ohio State Buckeyes in CJ Stroud. Being a Heisman Trophy finalist last season, expectations will be even higher for Stroud this year, hoping to push Ohio State into the College Football Playoff toward a national championship.

Day discussed how he is going to help Stroud and continue his development toward becoming an NFL quarterback this season. Day said there will not be much change, wanting to replicate most of everything from the previous year.

“About the same [as year one],” Day said. “You have to do both of those things. But try not to change just because it’s year two. Try to continue the same mentality that we have. We have certain meetings that I’m in there and certain meetings where I give them a little bit of space. But no, we try not to change that just based on the second year.”