Ryan Day spoke at the Big Ten Media Days today. Here is a recap of what he said. For a full video of what Ryan Day had to say, click here.

Note, all of the comments, questions, and answers are paraphrased.

Ryan Day – Head Coach

• Loves the city of Indianapolis
• Talked about Thayer Munford who coming back means a lot, did a lot of work in the offseason, and came back to leave a legacy behind
• Zach Harrison is about to have a great season
• Chris Olave, who was supposed to attend, is getting his second vaccination shot this weekend, and was replaced by Jeremy Ruckart
• Jeremy is getting his degree this summer, and is excited to see what he will do for the Buckeyes this season
• 45 players in their first or 2nd year, and missed over 1000 snaps last yea with the missed spring practice and the absence of 6 games
• Fundamental is something that was spent a long time working on this spring
• This summer is for the leadership, development and accountability, a way for the players to find their own voice
• Camp is around the corner, and it was easy to focus on how it ended, but a lot of youth to start the season, and need to focus on winning the first game at Minnesota
• Emphasis to starting out of the gate strong

Q: How do you plan on your young defense stopping an experienced Minnesota team who has 5 returning lineman, and a great running back in Mo Ibrahim?
A: It will be a major challenge going on the road and playing in front of the fans. Good news is the defensive line is not that young, and as deep as they have been. And it was good to see some of the defensive backs play well in the playoff games. Although they are young, we have depth there, and it’s going to be a challenge.

Q:How did the abnormal season last your help you alter and prepare for this season?
A: One of the things missed was routine, and the program strives on routine, so getting that back this year will be key and looking forward to.

Q: What advice and preparations are you doing for the vaccine, and where do they stand right now?
A: The majority of the team is vaccinated. There are risks with everything. We have left that up the players and doing everything we can to educate them. Most of the team is vaccinated or getting vaccinated. It is something that is unique to each guy.

Q: Do you expect some good positions battles in your interior line, and who do you expect to be your starting center?
A: Interior line, good battles there. Harry Miller is coming back, played his second year, very hard to do at Ohio State, had surgery on his shoulder. Parris Johnson is in there, moving to guard, which helps with his versatility, and his value down the road. There are a few guys in there, and if they deserve to play, we will roll them in there. We have to find the best 5 and go from there.

Q: Bryce Young is making upwards of 7 figures thanks to NIL, are you delaying someones earning potential by not naming a starter, and what does that look like, and what do you think a starting quarterback would be worth on the open market?
A: That stuff will happen natural, and the focus will be development. We need to consider down the line how to spread some of that out. When you combine the brand of Ohio State, and the city of Columbus, there are a lot of opportunities. There has to be some sort of formula to consider.

Q: How do you go about keeping the kids hungry and in check?
A: It all starts with recruiting, and getting the right people, and telling them the way its going to be when they get there. If they can make it Ohio State, they can make it anywhere. He spoke to the freshman, and asked how they liked the program, and they said it was hard, thats why they like to be there. Thats what they want and want to embrace. There will be a lot of young guys who will play, a lot of freshman, and that is because they earned it. 

Q: What are the signs of maturity you are looking for to make sure you are in the right track?
A: We try to come up with conflict opportunities in camp, and allow players to speak up, in practice, in workouts, which shows they are ready. 

Q:What are the expectations for a loaded defensive line group?
A: Its highly competitive, Larry Johnson likes to roll guys so everyone will play. Jack (Sawyer) and JTT are in different situations on when they came in. Its a long way to January.

Q: What is the difficulty in hours with the transfer portal and players leaving and coming in?
A: It’s inevitable that players will leave, but as long as you bring in the right people, and set the right expectations. There will be good days and bad days. A good example of that is Joe Burrow, who graduated and had success at LSU when Dwayne was named the starter.

Q: With what happened to Haskell Garrett last season, how has that impacted the team?
A: It was a very unique situation with what Haskell went through. Proud of the way he handled himself on and off the field.