Ryan Day details decision to use linebacker Chip Trayanum as kick returner

Ohio State has debuted a bit of a wrinkle on special teams, using linebacker Chip Trayanum as a kick returner, something head coach Ryan Day seemed pretty enthused about. A former running back at Arizona State before transferring to Columbus and changing positions, Trayanum brings a lot to the role.

While it seems unorthodox on the surface, Day explained that Trayanum brings a lot of the traits you’d want in a return with his speed and vision. His experience carrying the ball in college prior and his play strength are also positives.

“First off, he has running back experience. So he’s carried the ball in college games. When you look at his numbers on the GPS, he’s really fast. And we look for that. And then also, he’s got some strength to him. And I think when you’re looking for somebody to return in the kickoff game, you’ve gotta have somebody that’s got some strength to them. Because that can be a situation where you’ve got to be strong. You’ve got to be built sort of like a running back or a bigger wide receiver, in my opinion, to do it all the time. Now you can try to hit a homerun once in a while with, maybe, a slighter guy. But you run the risk of them getting whacked. So we think that he really has an opportunity to be a good returner for us,” Day said on Thursday.

CLICK HERE to subscribe to the On3 YouTube channel today for all of the latest news on college football, recruiting, NIL, more!

While Trayanum lined up deep to take back kicks against Arkansas State in Week 2, he didn’t have one come his way. Day is hopeful that the opportunity comes his way against Toledo this Saturday.

The decision is a bit unusual and maybe comes as a surprise from a team loaded with as much talent as Ohio State. But Day has seen the good from Trayanum, along with fellow linebacker Steele Chambers — both former running backs — to think they can make an impact on special teams.

“I think we’ve had two guys, now, both Steele and Chip, that have made the transition from running back to linebacker. And, over the years when you look at some of the really good linebackers, a lot of them had offensive backgrounds,” Day said. “Just feet, vision. Some of them were the best player on the field on their high school team — they hand them the ball. And so, you know, as these guys make their transitions, they were both good running backs and certainly could both play running back here at Ohio State. And when you have those bigger, stronger guys that can give you some value in the kickoff return game, then we want to do that. And we’re hoping this pays off for us, but we’ll have to see once we get on the field and get some snaps and returns under Chip’s belt.”