Ryan Day reflects on Chris Olave's recruitment ahead of Indiana

Ohio State still isn't sure which quarterback Indiana will play Saturday night. But as head coach Ryan Day watches film of redshirt junior Jack Tuttle — who stepped up for injured Michael Penix Jr. last week against Michigan State — he couldn't help but look back on the recruitment of one of his top offensive playmakers.

Day remembers traveling out to San Marcos Calif. in 2017, a state, he said, he doesn't recruit much, to look at Tuttle, a 2018 four-star quarterback at Mission Hills High School.

As Day watched Tuttle, Mission Hills head football coach Chris Hauser made sure Day knew about the receiver he was throwing to: Chris Olave.

"He didn't play his junior year, so nobody was recruiting him, but he said, 'This kid's going to be a diamond in the rough,'" Day recalled on his radio show Thursday. "That's part of recruiting, building these relationships. The principal at the school was a Buckeye and so it just kind of fell into place."

Day evaluated Olave on what they saw out of his first four games, offering the three-star soon after. He was a four-sport athlete at Mission Hills, playing football, basketball and baseball, while also running track.

On the baseball diamond, Day said Olave wasn't much of a hitter, but "he was a hell of a pinch runner," seeing that athleticism in the way he played outfield too.

Olave committed to Ohio State Jan. 28, 2018. But even then, it was a fluid situation with the wide receiver, Day revealed.

"He committed, but then silently decommitted," Day said. "He wasn't sure, he was considering staying out there and going to either Utah, USC or something like that. But we're able to get to him to sign. It was a big deal for us and the rest is history. It's amazing how things work."

Tuttle was never offered by Ohio State, holding offers from Alabama, LSU, USC and Oregon, but chose to commit to Utah before transferring to Utah in the spring of 2019 after one semester with the Utes.

Olave, on the other hand, has 2,269 career receiving yards — seventh most in Ohio State history — and 29 touchdown receptions — third most in Ohio State history — in four years with the Buckeyes.

Along with the schematic and personnel changes made after the Oregon and Tulsa games, Day said he made one other change.

He said Thursday that the team went old school, reverting back to binders instead of giving players and coaches access to everything on tablets. Those binders, he said, contain everything from scouting reports and run sheets, to the game plan and pass protections, giving players room to write nots during sessions.

"We have those binders and they actually take a pen and paper, they write their notes down," Day said. "Right before the games, we take them, we throw them out and we give them a fresh one each week.

"When you are actually writing it down, you are actually writing it and grabbing onto it. I think that matters."

Day said it's something he wanted to streamline after the second and third games of the season, not something he did in response to those games.

He also said it helps the coaching staff too.

"When you have to write it down on paper — do it, organize it — you just understand it all better," Day said. "I think it's a good process."

Day said that everyone on the team is vaccinated from COVID-19, with the exception of "a player or two" looking to get an exemption.

Day also reiterated that defensive tackle Haskell Garrett, cornerback Cameron Brown, running back Miyan Williams and defensive end Tyreke Smith are all expected to be back Saturday against Indiana.

In terms of freshmen he hopes make an impact in the second half of the season, the head coach said that it will depend on injuries and the overall game play, but that he has seen wide receivers Emeka Egbuka and Marvin Harrison Jr., along with cornerback Jordan Hancock, defensive tackle Michael Hall Jr. and running back Evan Pryor practice well.