Ryan Day to be 'heavily involved' in Week 1 play calling, Brian Hartline to have say in calls

Ohio State elevated Brian Hartline to the offensive coordinator position ahead of the 2023 season. But full play-calling duties have been yet to be ceded.

As Ohio State enters the season this weekend with a trip to Indiana, head coach Ryan Day explained that the play calling balance hasn’t been put to bed. Early on, he expects to have a big say in how the offense gets called.

“As time goes on, we’ll try to get more and more of an opportunity for Brian to call it but early on, I’ll be heavily involved,” Day said.

It seems, based on Day’s remarks, that the goal is to let Hartline build up and build up on play calling rather than diving in headfirst during the season opener.

“Brian and I are going to keep working through it. We talked about it a little this week, we’ll talk about it more even as we head in. We’ll both have the same call sheet, we’ll both be talking in between series. We’ll work together on this thing,” Day said.

Day said at Big Ten Media Days that he’d still likely have a hand in play calling

Day addressed play calling and spoke about the balance that he is going to have with the offense this season.

“Nothing has really changed from the spring,” Ryan Day said. “We’ll see how the preseason goes and see how it all shakes out, the chemistry. It’s allowed me the opportunity to bounce around a little bit more. Also with naming Quinn Tempel our chief of staff, he’s kind of taken some things off of my plate. He’s done a really good job there.”

Day admitted that it’s probably going to be difficult for him to stay away from the offense but it’s important to the team as a whole for him to not become too focused on the offense.

“The way our staff is designed, I think we have a great staff, and it has allowed me to jump around a little bit more. Once we get into the teeth of the season, I know how it’s going to go probably for me. I’m going to end up being right involved with it again, but that being said, as the season wears on, I have to be conscious this year of not getting too locked into the offense and making sure that I have a handle on everything that’s going on.”