Column: How Day handles quarterback “competition” is crucial to first season as head coach
There’s a holding pattern on reviews that could be written about Ryan Day.
Thus far, the first-year head coach checks most boxes: His first recruiting class is No. 2 in the nation, he has hired five assistant coaches with great track records at either the college or pro level and maintained Ohio State’s support staff.
The program’s veins course with talent that took home a Big Ten title and Rose Bowl victory in 2018, its muscle is secure under former Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year Mickey Marotti and the nervous center is firing well under accomplished assistant coaches.
All that’s left is for the top mind to prove he can move it all in sync on the big stage — a big factor in how he handles the sport’s most important position, and with a quarterback that is the highest-rated recruit in the history of a program transfers in from another school, the expectation is that he starts immediately.
That hasn’t been the case for sophomore Justin Fields since transferring from Georgia. Day continues to reiterate that there’s competition, whether from redshirt freshman Matthew Baldwin in the spring before he transferred to TCU or redshirt junior Gunnar Hoak, a recent transfer from Kentucky.
“Justin and Gunnar are going to compete like heck to go win the job,” Day said. “At the end of the day, it’s going to come down to who can play the game.”
Some would point to then-redshirt sophomore quarterback Dwayne Haskins’ performance in 2018, setting school records for yards, touchdowns and completion percentage, as a reason Fields could be a plug-and-play.
At Big Ten Media Days, Day dispelled the comparison of Fields to Haskins, stating that the latter’s experience in the program allowed him to put up the numbers he did as a first-time starter.
“A lot of people think, ‘Dwayne went from zero to 60 so fast, that he just jumped into the Heisman Trophy race,” Day said. “That was a very different scenario than Justin Fields.”
Day said Fields is still learning the offense, and therefore can’t be named the starting quarterback.
“He’s got a step ahead of Gunnar, because Gunnar just got here. He didn’t even go through the spring,” Day said. “[Quarterbacks coach] Mike Yurcich is new to our staff as well. That whole room is literally in the first step of the progression.”
Entire article:
https://www.thelantern.com/2019/07/...ion-is-crucial-to-first-season-as-head-coach/