Ahead of fall camp, Ryan Day discusses details, timeline of ‘close’ Buckeyes QB battle

INDIANAPOLIS — Ohio State head coach Ryan Day isn’t shutting the door on the possibility of the Buckeyes playing two quarterbacks early this season.

Although he’d prefer either junior Kyle McCord or redshirt freshman Devin Brown to emerge as the starter by mid-to-late August, he said he’ll ultimately make the choice that gives Ohio State the best chance to win Week 1 at Indiana.

And that choice could be trying out both McCord and Brown in Bloomington.

“In the last going on seven years, we’ve been in this situation quite a few times at Ohio State,” Day said Wednesday at Big Ten Media Days. “And just not knowing who the quarterback’s going to be going into the season — you had a new one with Dwayne [Haskins], you had a new one with Justin [Fields], you had a new one with C.J. [Stroud], and here we are again.”

Day continued: “You’d like to see somebody emerge, and then you’d name them, just like we’ve done with C.J. and Justin and Dwayne. But if that doesn’t happen, then maybe that is the case (playing two quarterbacks early in the season). We’ll have to evaluate it from there, but we’ll see. I know that we’ve gotta go in and win that first game on the road. So we’re going to do everything we can and do what’s right for Ohio State.”

So, what’s the preferred timeline?

Day named Fields the Buckeyes’ starting quarterback on Aug. 19, 2019. Two years later, during the next battle under center, he officially declared Stroud QB1 on Aug. 21, 2021.

“Ideally, that’s what we’d like to do. That’s what we’ve done,” Day said of the above timeline. “But that’s because somebody emerged. If someone doesn’t emerge, we’ll have to figure it out from there.”

And, besides, McCord vs. Brown is different than Stroud vs. McCord/Jack Miller III in 2021 and Fields vs. Gunnar Hoak/Chris Chugunov in 2019. The closest thing to this year’s competition was Haskins and Joe Burrow’s head-to-head in the 2018 offseason, except that ended with Burrow transferring to LSU after spring ball.

“It’s not like we have an incumbent,” Day said. “You think about the last few competitions — certainly Dwayne and Joe [Burrow] was in the spring, and that shook out a certain way — but, really, when you talk about Justin and C.J., those were a little bit different. But this one’s close. So these guys are going to continue to battle.

“Kyle wants to be the starter. This is why he’s hung around here for three years. And Devin came here to play as well. I think the big thing is, they have to do a great job of competing, but we need that room to be great. This is one of the first times that we’ve been here that we have depth in that room. And so we’re going to need that whole room.”

The battle under center is close…is that a good or bad thing?

As Day said, the Ohio State quarterback competition is close. Day was asked if there’s a “good close” and a “bad close” with these kinds of position battles.

He said there is, and noted that McCord-Brown is a “good close.”

“We need someone to play at championship level,” Day reiterated. “I hope after the first couple weeks I feel that way. I feel like it’s going to be a hard decision. I’ve heard people say, well, a couple years ago we had a pretty heavy room, and people said it’s going to be really hard for us to make a decision. It’s not hard when you have really good players. You pick who you think the best is, and you go on from there.”

Day added: “When you don’t have enough players, or you don’t think they’re good enough, that becomes really hard.”

Both McCord and Brown are former five-star prospects who were top-five quarterbacks in their respective recruiting classes, according to On3, and were Elite 11 finalists.

McCord has the experience advantage. He’s been with the program one year longer, backed up Stroud — the highest-drafted quarterback in Buckeyes history — and even made one career start, a 59-7 win over Akron in 2021. Meanwhile, Brown didn’t attempt a pass last year as a true freshman. Plus, he missed the end of this year’s spring ball after fracturing his pinkie finger on his throwing hand, an injury that required surgery the week before the spring game.

“Good leadership,” Day said of McCord. “Has found his voice I think. But both of the guys have. And (strength and conditioning coach) Mick [Marotti], that’s a big part of what he does at this time of year. He puts them in situations to get up in front of the team and talk. And the first few times, different guys get up there, and they say, ‘Maybe I wish I said this,’ and by the fifth or sixth time you do it, now you have the voice. And then the guys can follow. Because in order to lead, you have to speak up. And both of those guys have done that.”

That’s the way Day speaks about McCord and Brown: He builds up one, then the other. He critiques one, then the other. But both in tandem.

“Great summer,” Day said, when asked about Brown. “Coming off that last break, he was ready to go from there — he didn’t miss anything from then on. He’s put on some weight, he’s gotten stronger, he’s throwing the ball well. But we gotta go play football now. Playing the game is so much different.

“I don’t know if you’ve watched that new Netflix show, ‘Quarterback,’ but what’s really cool about the quarterback position, you see Peyton Manning talking about the hardest position in all of sports. It isn’t just because I can throw it from here to there, or it’s because I can run, it’s so many things that come with it. And that’s why we gotta go play the game and figure out where we’re at.”

What about beyond McCord/Brown?

Day was adamant Wednesday in Lucas Oil Stadium that Ohio State has more quarterback depth in 2023 than it’s had in years.

The Buckeyes have four scholarship signal callers: McCord, Brown, seventh-year and Oregon State transfer Tristan Gebbia and true freshman Lincoln Kienholz.

Day raved, in particular, about Kienholz, who arrived on campus in June after starring as a three-sport athlete at T.F. Riggs in Pierre, South Dakota.

“Lincoln has stepped in, and I’ve been very surprised with just his approach,” Day said. “Been really impressed with how it doesn’t seem too big for Lincoln. He’s very athletic. He’s learning. He’s got a long way to go. He came in in the summer but excited to have him here.”

As was the case in the spring, Day praised Gebbia’s ability to double as a veteran quarterback and as a pseudo coach. Gebbia has expressed interest in coaching after hanging up the cleats, and that mindset is helping the room right now, Day said.

The depth Day speaks of allows him and offensive coordinator Brian Hartline to get more creative.

“When Justin was there and when C.J. was there, and we didn’t have a lot of depth, we had to be very, very careful about running the quarterback,” Day explained. “Maybe this year we have an opportunity to do some more things like that because we have more depth in that room. You think about the times where there has been depth at the quarterback position, we’ve been more inclined to do some things like that. So we’ll take all those things into consideration, but we need that room to play at championship level.”

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