Ohio State Football: Ryan Day gives thoughts on transfer portal

The transfer portal has been a very hot topic in recent days, specifically with NIL. Players are leaving more frequently than ever before with the portal active and NIL money to be made. The Ohio State football team hasn’t used the portal as much as other teams though.

Ryan Day said as much when he was meeting with the media today. He mentioned that he and his staff would rather develop talent right out of high school instead of using the portal as much. He sees more value in that than trying to use the portal as much as some of these other schools.

You can see that with some of Day’s recruiting numbers. The 2021 class was the best class the Ohio State football program has ever had. Right now, they sit at 4th in the country. Day wants to keep his talent coming in from the recruiting trail and he has had some good results with that.

The next step is developing that talent. There hasn’t really been an issue developing talent on offense, although the offensive line wasn’t great last year. But on defense, that has been a different story. That side of the ball needs to get better.

That side of the ball is also where the portal was utilized the most this offseason. The Buckeyes brought in a new safety and a new linebacker from the portal this offseason. Don’t get me wrong, Day isn’t against using the portal. I mean, that’s how he got Justin Fields.

But Day isn’t going to use the portal to replenish his entire roster year after year. He has faith in his recruiting abilities and his staff’s recruiting abilities as well. That faith has led to them bringing in some great recruits. Now, it’s time for them to deliver.