Ryan Day Discusses Ohio State’s 2020 Recruiting Class

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day spoke to members of the media about the 24 prospects the Buckeyes signed on Early Signing Day on Dec. 18.

Highly touted defensive backs Lejond Cavazos, Ryan Watts, Lathan Ransom and Kourt Williams stayed committed with Jeff Hafley leaving for Boston College.
When you come to Ohio State, you’re going to go against the top players in the country. Mickey Marotti is also pivotal in our player’s development.
Jeff Hafley continued to recruit after accepting the Boston College job.
These recruits are some of the best people I’ve been around. Not just great players, but great people. They have shown loyalty, from the transition from Coach Meyer to myself.
Paris Johnson has been with us all along. He’s helped us a lot in recruiting.
I’m not sure they realized what Early Signing Day was going to be like for playoff teams who play in conference championship games. It is what it is, but I think we have to take a look at that.
Last year, I was just talking to the guys about our staff and where it was going. This year, we spent a lot more time with the guys building relationships.
Urban Meyer was a great recruiter; I learned a lot from him. He’s the reason we have so many talented players now.
This is the strongest wide receiver class I’ve seen in a long time, or that I can remember. Julian Fleming is great and comes from a great family. Jaxon Smith-Njigba had an unbelievable season. Everyone who talks about Gee Scott has nothing but good things to say about him. Mookie Cooper didn’t have a chance to play this year, but he’s got good short-area quickness that makes him a good slot receiver.
Gee Scott is special. He’s got a huge heart. He’s done a lot to help put this class together. He’s a dominant, physical player as well.
Luke Wypler bought in from the beginning and never wavered. He can be a great interior offensive lineman. Luke definitely has that Jersey in him, he’s got an edge to him. He’s also very hard-working.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s stats and film make me excited to get him here.
The idea is to have four quarterbacks in that room. We felt like we had to try to get more depth. Jack Miller has been committed all along. I saw him throw when he was 16 and I knew he had something special in him. C.J. Stroud came on late and has a lot of potential.
There are a lot of guys that we ask for their opinions on recruits. We couldn’t be in the recruits’ homes with them until this last week. So for years when we’re
Ohio is a priority for us and it always will be.
We sat down with Paris Johnson and started from scratch. Over time our relationship and trust grew. With Lejond Cavazos, we sat down with him after he de-committed, and his father C.J. was great.
I hope people don’t leave, but there are things that come up. Our future at quarterback is much stronger than today.
There is a lot of stress because of how much time we have put in.
The world has gotten smaller. Wherever you go, the block ‘O’ holds weight. When I went to Hawaii to recruit Enokk Vimahi, I was recognized before even coaching a game. The brand of Buckeye Nation is throughout the country. Kids are more inclined to get on a plane and come to Ohio.
We try not to ‘talk people into coming here.’ Those days are over because of the transfer portal. We want guys who want to be here.
These kids want relationships and people who care about their kids. Once they get here, they realize how special this place is. You feel the love and the family here. Ohio State will get you in the door, but that’s not going to seal the deal.
What a great opportunity. If you’re a high school quarterback right now, Ohio State is a good place to play. If you look at what Dwayne Haskins and Justin Fields have done, it’s an exciting time.
Miyan Williams is a big, strong back who is very productive. It’s like he’s angry when he runs. He’s a great fit.
In recruiting, it’s always the big picture.
This is exciting. This is a great day for us. The amount of time and work that goes into it makes it exciting. When you want to look at the future, you look at recruiting. These guys stuck in and showed loyalty. When adversity hits, they will be able to stick it out.
I will be surprised if Kourt Williams is not a captain when he’s here. He’s got a lot of versatility and we can use him in a lot of different ways.
I think our O-line commits are a great mix. Paris Johnson and Luke Wypler will come in and compete right away. Trey Leroux, Jakob James and Josh Fryar know they have some more work to do. Josh Myers took three years to see the field, sometimes it’s better for an offensive lineman to take time to develop.
Going into this year, Ty Hamilton had some stuff going on but he wasn’t very highly recruited yet. Larry Johnson saw something he liked at camp and Ty had a great season.
We got a lot of great feedback on C.J. Stroud. We were looking at a lot of great quarterbacks. C.J. Stroud had a great season and I think he’ll be a great fit. He handles himself the right way.
The first thing you look for is an extraordinary quality. Hopefully you can find two or three qualities and hopefully you have a great one. Ability to see the field, athletic ability, size, ability to handle adversity, family situation — there are a lot of things that go into it.
We expect them to be here and graduate. The transfer portal is not even a conversation. They know that they have to compete. If you hang in and work through it, good things will happen.
If you’re here and you’re competing, you’re going against great people every day.
Add one or two more guys? ‘We might be able to make some room.’
What have you thought of Dawand Jones’ development? Neither Dawand Jones or Enokk Vimahi were even on our board at this time last year. They have both developed very well so far.
West coast? There were really good players out there. There is a strong interest from those guys and we followed up.
People who are not close to the program that see at the high level we plat at think there is a ‘factory tag’ on the program. That couldn’t be further from the truth. I’m very proud of how so may of our guys have graduated and some are pushing for master’s degrees.

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