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Ohio State football coach Ryan Day has a lot to replace this coming season, after the loss of offensive coordinator Chip Kelly. At Big Ten Media Day on Tuesday, Day teased that the offense won't look all that different this year.
“It will be very similar. We've tried to keep offense same over these 9 years. Chip brought in his own ideas, but we tried to keep the offense, the offense,” Day said, per On3.
Brian Hartline is now the solo offensive coordinator, after sharing duties with Kelly in 2024. Ohio State won the national championship with that powerful tandem leading the offense. Kelly is now the offensive coordinator for the Las Vegas Raiders in the NFL, under Pete Carroll.
Day has a lot of faith in Hartline to lead the offense.
“He's grown from a really good player to a really good coach, now the next step in the progression is to become a really good coordinator,” Day said, per Eleven Warriors.
Other departures for the Buckeyes include quarterback Will Howard, who went to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Ohio State football hopes to win back-to-back national championships
Ohio State football still has weapons on offense, including young wide receiver Jeremiah Smith. Smith had an outstanding freshman season in 2024. He finished the year with 1,315 receiving yards and 76 receptions. Smith caught 15 touchdown passes for the Buckeyes.
Coach Day says Smith can have continued success in the program.
“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,” Day said.
If the Buckeyes do win another national championship this year, they will have to do it with a new quarterback. Two players are fighting right now to be the team's starter this season. They are Julian Sayin and Lincoln Kienholz.
“Guys have taken leadership roles. They’ve been throwing with the wide receivers. I ask those guys all the time, and they like both of them. We’re going to put them in as many competitive situation as we possibly can to figure out who handles that the best because we’ve got to be on point Week 1. We can’t be messing around. I know that we’ll need all of those guys in that room this year,” Day said, per On3.
Ohio State starts their season against Texas on August 30. It will be a rematch of a game in last year's College Football Playoff.
