People rarely talk about the pitfalls of being a champion, and that’s what Ryan Day got into recently when discussing the aftermath of the 2024 national championship. Given that they had participated in the College Football Playoff (CFP) championship game, the Ohio State Buckeyes had to open up their roster to the transfer portal for five days after winning the national title. In that period, they lost seven players who transferred to other schools.

Speaking on Tuesday at “97.1 The Fan”, the Buckeyes coach touched upon this point, letting fans know how difficult that situation was for the program:

“On January 21st, I felt like we were in major catch-up mode. I felt we were way behind the eight-ball for a lot of reasons. One, the portal opened up on our team for five days when everybody else in the country it was closed… We lost seven guys there… We can’t replace them,” Ryan Day said during the interview (3:15)

This special transfer portal window applied only to Notre Dame and Ohio State, with the rule being that any player participating in a bowl or playoff game had a five-day window to enter the transfer portal after their season ended. Understandably, Ryan Day would feel hard-pressed by this constraint.

Ryan Day on Jeremiah Smith’s Progress and Development This Offseason

Jeremiah Smith was certainly the biggest surprise out of the Ohio State camp last season. The true freshman wide receiver took the Big Ten by storm and won almost every accolade imaginable. In a true freshman season for the history books, he became a key piece of the Buckeyes’ national title-winning campaign.

But for Ryan Day, his best days are still ahead of him. Speaking this Tuesday at a press conference during the Big Ten media days, Day had this to say about Smith:

“He’s gotten bigger and stronger and faster than he was last year. … He just sets such a standard. And you don’t need to motivate Jeremiah. … He may not be an older guy, he may not be vocal in terms of his leadership, but what he does on the field speaks for himself. … He deserves an opportunity to be here today and that’s why he’s here.”

The Buckeyes are currently the favorites to win the national title, and if they’re to do so, they will have to be able to rely on Smith to maintain his production. The biggest question is how the star receiver will perform with a green quarterback at the helm.

Last season, he could rely on a veteran like Will Howard to lead the offense, but whoever starts this year will be a quarterback with little to no experience.

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