Ryan Day reflects on coaching with Chip Kelly at Ohio State: 'It’s been big’

Over his time thus far as offensive coordinator at Ohio State, Chip Kelly has already had a major impact on and off the field for everyone, especially Ryan Day.

Day spoke about Kelly’s effect on the Buckeyes so far during an interview on ‘Andy & Ari On3’ on Tuesday. Simply put, his hire and addition has been a major move for their program.

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“Yeah, it’s been big,” said Kelly. “It’s been big.”

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That starts with how he has affected the rest of the Buckeyes’ offensive staff. With several of the same names still working there, Kelly, along with his experience and knowledge, has added a whole new outlook to their collaborations.

“You know, I really – I like the way the offensive staff has come together. I feel like Brian Hartline has done a great job and, you know, Justin Frye, Keenan Bailey. I mean everybody in that room – Carlos Locklyn,” said Day. “To have somebody who’s been through, you know, so much football in his life? He’s been a head coach before, he’s been in the NFL, he’s done all those things. It’s just a great perspective coming in with a fresh set of eyes on everything that we’re doing here.”

“I think the great thing is that, in that room, everyone kind of sees it the same way because we’ve been together for awhile. For someone to come in from a different point of view but also, you know, a lot of what we’ve done here was what he did because of what I learned from him when I worked for him” Day continued. “So it’s not like this is like way out of left field. But, along the way, you know, you start on a path together. One guy goes one way, the other guy goes the other way. Then we’re bringing it back together again.”

The biggest impact, though, could be that his work on their staff has taken a lot off of Day. He is somebody that the head coach can absolutely trust because of their connection together over the years.

“It’s also great to have somebody you trust and you know,” said Day. “That’s big.”

“I think that’s what’s great about Chip. You talk about trust. You can have an argument, you can challenge each other. But, at the end of the day, you know you’re going to have each other’s back when you walk out of the room. Sometimes, when you don’t have that kind of trust or that relationship, you know, it can create issues and, you know, problems,” Day said. “Not here and that’s big. He’s very, very competitive and so am I but we see things the same way. It’s a collaboration, you know. It was the same way when he was the head coach. You know, we always kind of had that relationship and it’s carried over here.”

For one, Day has a lot less to do offensively during the game. He can actually do his total role of leading the overall team with Kelly calling the offense, which, through two games, is averaging 54 points on 543.5 yards a game. It’s even to the extent of things now feeling weird for Day.

“It’s only a start but it has allowed me, for sure – like even just being in a game and not carrying a call sheet is a weird feeling to me. Like, I always feel like I need to grab something, you know. I don’t know what to do when I don’t have a call sheet in my hand,” Day explained. “It certainly, in the game, has made me much more aware. Eyes up, involved with everybody in all three phases, looking people in the eye. So that part has been good during the games.”

For two, that same reaction is happening for Day during the week as far as what all he can focus on with Ohio State.

“I’m able to kind of spend more time on third-down, red zone. You know, seeing things a little bit further away. I can spend more time on special teams. You know, take a look at what’s going on on the other side of the ball, have some conversation with Jim Knowles,” Day continued. “I can be, you know, in the facility more. I can be down in the training room, I can be with the players. You know, there’s just more to it.”

“Also, just time to gather my thoughts on how I need to, you know, talk to the staff that week, how we need to message the team that week,” Day went on. “It’s good to be able to just be with your thoughts every now and again too because, before that, I mean there was just so much going on. You’re constantly thinking about what to call and how to organize the game plan. So all those things have been positive.”

Kelly coming to Columbus was one of the offseason’s biggest staff moves considering what it represented to Day and Ohio State. It’s now paying off early on with what he has already done to this point.

“It’s been great,” said Day. “I think, so far, he has done a great job.”