Within a matter of days the landscape of the sport we love was drastically changed this December. Lincoln Riley left Oklahoma overnight and took the USC job with his new private jet, Spencer Rattler enters the portal and ends up in South Carolina of all places, Texas steals recruits while throwing around massive cash in the process, and of course Brian Kelly flees South Bend amidst a possible playoff bid for Notre Dame while leaving the players with a heartfelt text message and six minute speech at 7 am the next day.  Then, Bayou Brian was born with all the fake accents and heinous dance moves for the internet to marvel at. But I digress…

College football is clearly in a transition period and this year may be the most severe period of transition we will see for a while it seems. Between opt outs, massive/numerous transfers, unpredictable coach movement and possible playoff format change on the horizon, we have to expect the unexpected. That being said, where do the Buckeyes fit in amidst the chaos?

As far as a coaching change, Ryan Day put to rest any rumors of him leaving Columbus, at least in the near future. It seems that he will be up for NFL coaching jobs every year at this point so it will be hard to gauge exactly when or if he will leave. When it comes to the transfer portal, it has been both a blessing and a curse for the Buckeyes. The famously lost Quinn Ewers to Texas early on in December, followed by an abundance of defensive backs that hadn’t seen enough playing time in their minds.

Not all is lost, however, as OSU was able to receive Ohio native DeaMonte Trayanum, a running back from Arizona State who will play linebacker in Columbus. and Tanner McCalister, a safety from Oklahoma State who will follow defensive coordinator Jim Knowles. Day has been publicly adamant that to him, the portal is something to be cautious with, stressing the importance of keeping a strong “Chemistry” in a locker room and getting the right guys in the program. It seems by getting a player that Ohio State initially recruited as a LB in Traynum and acquiring Jim Knowles’ Swiss Army knife from Oklahoma State in McCalister, they’ve managed to do just that. 

Ohio State finds themselves flying a bit under the radar in the news cycle as of late which isn’t easy to do with the scope that is on the program on a daily basis. The most recent news for the program has been the development of the account being headed by Brian Schottenstein and Cardale Jones which will give the buckeyes the ability to funnel money into recruiting and player compensation.

For the most part, this team has stayed intact and apart from Marcus Williamson’s Twitter escapade that was quickly discounted from dozens of former players, they have avoided controversy. This is something that I believe will help this team and this program take a big next step this coming year as they build for a very important season in 2022.