All throughout the offseason, we at Scarlet and Gray Report will start the day by answering a question related to Ohio State football, whether it has to do with the team in 2022, recruiting or looking back at past teams and players.
The first three years under Ryan Day or the first three years under Urban Meyer: Who has the best track record?
Ohio State has been busy.
In the past week, head coach Ryan Day and the rest of the Buckeyes staff have been across the country, offering commitments to players in the 2023 class and beyond.
Ever since Day joined Urban Meyer’s staff in 2017, he became part of Ohio State’s recruiting machine, bringing in top-tier class after top-tier class, consistently leading the Big Ten and finishing near the top of the country each year in terms of recruiting talent.
And when Day inherited the whistle from around Meyer’s neck at the 2019 Rose Bowl, it’s a challenge he began to undertake too.
But how has Day compared in his first years as head coach to Meyer when he first got to Columbus Nov. 28, 2011?
Let’s separate it into two categories: recruiting and actual performance.
Recruiting
If anything, this just shows Ohio State has been relatively consistent, no matter who's been in charge
Both Meyer and Day had their outliers early on, whether it was the former's No. 9 finish in 2015 — still securing players that would make a large impact like wide receiver K.J. Hill, cornerback Damon Arnette, running back Mike Weber, linebacker Jerome Baker and cornerback Denzel Ward — or the latter's No. 21-ranked class in 2019 immediately after the handoff and in the midst of controversy, still securing commitments from defensive end Zach Harrison, offensive tackle Dawand Jones and linebacker Tommy Eichenberg.
Other than those two outliers, Ohio State has recorded a top-5 recruiting class in each season from 2012-22.
However, Day seems to be taking advantage of the product Meyer had helped build in his tenure, increasing his average recruit rating over his first three recruiting classes until his .01-point drop this year.
In that span, Day has secured 11 five-star players and 21 recruits with a 6 rating or higher. In comparison, Meyer had four five-star athletes and 18 recruits with a 6 rating or higher.
Both Meyer and Day have proved that "recruiting" wins aren't everything, but early on in his career, it seems like Day has had more of them, edging out his predecessor by an average rating of 5.84 compared to Meyer's 5.81.
EDGE: Day
Performance
This one's a bit harder.
We know what Meyer's recruits did.
In that span, the former Ohio State head coach cultivated a national championship-winning program, bringing in future superstars like defensive end Joey Bosa and running back Ezekiel Elliott, while players like wide receivers Parris Campbell, K.J. Hill and Terry McLaurin, quarterback J.T. Barrett, defensive linemen Tyquan Lewis, Sam Hubbard, defensive backs Denzel Ward, Damon Webb, Marshon Lattimore, Gareon Conley, Eli Apple and Damon Arnette and many more each made their own distinct impact for Ohio State in their careers.
Many of Day's still have a lot to prove, while players like wide receivers Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka, offensive lineman Paris Johnson Jr., defensive ends J.T. Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer, running back TreVeyon Henderson and quarterback C.J. Stroud have the potential to make that kind of impact.
But with a ring along with the development of the talent into NFL-ready players, Meyer takes the advantage here.
EDGE: Meyer
