COLUMBUS, Ohio — Driving back from Massillon, Ohio Saturday after his son competed in the Elite 11 camp, Ryan Day didn’t know what to say.

While at the camp, the Ohio State head coach found out that his former quarterback Dwayne Haskins was killed earlier that morning after being hit by a vehicle attempting to cross Interstate 595 while walking in Miami.

“I didn’t really have anything good to tell him, really,” Day said about that conversation with his son RJ, someone who grew close with Haskins during his time at Ohio State.

“I couldn’t quite understand what to think of it all. Very confusing, sad. It makes you hug your loved ones a little bit more and you just understand how fragile life is. Something like this is difficult to explain.”

The confusion and sadness continued as Day led Ohio State’s practice Monday, with players like linebacker Teradja Mitchell, defensive tackle Taron Vincent, defensive end Javontae Jean-Baptiste, wide receiver Xavier Johnson, safety Marcus Hooker, cornerback Cameron Brown, tight end Mitch Rossi, safety Josh Proctor, long snapper Bradley Robinson, defensive end Tyler Friday and offensive lineman Matthew Jones having previously played with Haskins during that 2018 season.

All they could do was pray, Day said, which wide receiver Kamryn Babb, the fifth-year player, who was a freshman with Haskins in 2018, led, leaning on each other the best that they could without a true blueprint of how to respond.

“I think they are a little bit lost,” Day said of those players that had previously played with Haskins. “It’s been a couple years since he’s been with the program, but they also stayed in close touch with him. I know a lot of guys who were constantly texting and communicating with him. They are hurting right now.

“Just like any of us, I’m 44 years old now and I don’t know how to feel. I’m sure if you’re 18, 19, 20 years old, you are having a hard time with it all. Confusing, so what do you do in times like this? You try and lean on each other the best you can. What you can’t do is try and do something or say something to try and make it all better. It’s not going to happen. You have to go through the process.”

The confusion and sadness continued based on the sudden death of Haskins. But there was no confusion or sadness when Day spoke of who Haskins was as a person.

“You just saw somebody who was a joy to be around,” Day said. “Our guys really enjoyed being around him. He uplifted others, the smile that he had was just infectious. And he kind of had an old soul about him. Somebody who was young and very, very talented on the field, just had a gift for throwing the football, but sometimes, when you were talking to him, you felt like you were talking to a 45, 50-year-old man, just the way he approached life in general. He was a man of faith and really had great integrity about him.”

Day remembered Haskins being a “big brother” to both Justin Fields and C.J. Stroud, having walked in their shoes and being the resource that J.T. Barrett, Braxton Miller and Cardale Jones was for him.

Day remembered the relationship Haskins had with his receivers, guys like Parris Campbell, K.J. Hill, Austin Mack, Binjimen Victor and Terry McLaurin, who the quarterback continued his relationship with in Washington. He remembered the belief Haskins generated in that offense, the excitement they had and the relationships fostered.

“I know that all those guys are crushed right now. Really hurting,” Day said of Haskins’ former wide receivers. “There was a special relationship there.”

Overall, it was Haskins’ compassion for others that came to Day Monday thinking about his former starting quarterback, never thinking about himself first, but instead focusing on the people around him.

And the Ohio State head coach said something will be planned in Haskins’ honor at the Spring Game Saturday and moving forward, knowing that “Buckeye Nation meant a lot to Dwayne," but no set plans have been made.

It’s still hitting the program, those that loved Haskins within the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. It’s still hitting Day, the father who had no words when he had to explain to his son that Haskins was gone.

The Ohio State head coach knows that he and Haskins are intertwined in the history of the football program. Day feels that’s the way it was meant to be.

“You think about that TCU game and think about how things happen in life and certain people are meant to spend time together,” Day said. “God has a plan for us all and we end up on the same path together. I don’t think any of us would be here or the program would be where it was without Dwayne and the way that it all happened.”

And that’s what makes this process so difficult.

As Ohio State prepares for its Spring Game, Day made it clear that he’s still confused, still heartbroken. And there’s nothing else he can do but rely on his family around him to make it through, which was his main message to his team Monday after practice.

“The biggest thing is to lean on each other,” he said. “When you are part of a family, that’s what you do. That’s about all you can do. There’s nothing you can do to make it better at this point.”