Outside of one game at Purdue in October 2018, Ryan Day saw nothing but success with Dwayne Haskins as his starting quarterback at Ohio State.

That hasn’t been the case so far in his NFL career though, as the former Heisman finalist is just 3-8 as a starting quarterback for the Washington Football Team. But even after a career-best 314 passing yards this past Sunday, the former Buckeye was relegated to third-string status on Wednesday.

Day shared some words of encouragement for his one-time pupil Thursday on his weekly radio show on 97.1 The Fan.

“Dwayne is a very talented young man and I’ve got a special place in my heart for him. It’s not easy for him to go through, but he’s gonna come out of it,” Day said. “There’s still a lot of football ahead of him.”

Haskins started off the season helping Washington to a comeback win against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week One, but the team has now lost three games in a row while the offense has scored 20 or less points in each contest.

Haskins was drafted No. 15 overall by Washington in the 2019 NFL Draft, but the organization is now on its third different head coach in less than two seasons with Haskins at the helm of the offense.

Day said the struggles that Haskins has faced in the NFL don’t compare to any stretch of his collegiate tenure in Columbus, Ohio.

“For him, he really didn’t face a ton of adversity when he was here,” Day said. “He played behind J.T. and won the job, then went to the NFL, and so this is gonna be a learning experience for him for sure.”

Haskins started just one season for the Buckeyes in 2018 as a redshirt sophomore, but became a breakout star with a record-setting campaign that torched most of the previous Ohio State and Big Ten high-marks in the passing game.

His 54 total touchdowns and 4,831 passing yards could remain the golden standard of production at the program for quite some time, especially with Justin Fields having a shortened slate in 2020, which will likely be his last year with the Buckeyes.

“It is difficult. There’s a lot that goes into play when you get to the NFL and you get to that level,” Day said. “I know him, he’s resilient, he’s strong, he’s gonna work through this and all great quarterbacks have gone through adversity.”

Haskins may have lost his starting job for now, but for a player that entered the league with relatively limited collegiate experience before taking over a starting job in the NFL mid-way through his rookie season, Day believes there’s still plenty of time left for his former QB.

“I know he’s gonna come out stronger on the back end,” Day said.