Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day made the most questionable hire of College Football's offseason, and perhaps his most questionable decision in a mostly positive history of making decisions in Columbus, with the hiring of Arthur Smith as OSU's next offensive coordinator.
Joel Klatt sees the vision for why Day made the hire, believing that Smith could fully take over X's and O's while the head coach can operate as a CEO on the recruiting trail. Klatt compared Smith to Buckeyes defensive coordinator Matt Patricia and the impact he had.
“I don’t think [OSU head coach] Ryan Day wants to have to worry about, look over the shoulder of, the offense,” Klatt said on his show on Monday. “I really don’t. I think that he wants to be able to give the keys to the offense to a guy like Arthur Smith, just like he gave the keys to the defense to a guy like [OSU defensive coordinator] Matt Patricia."
“Now, he can be CEO, and he can worry about evaluating and valuating talent, and then fixing a problem here or there that arose. He was able to do that two years ago when Chip Kelly was the offensive coordinator, and he jumped in on the defensive side and allowed them to make some changes that ultimately led to a national championship. Last year, he was never really able to do that."
“[Ryan Day] knows what the blueprint looks like, and he can free himself up to be the CEO of the organization. In that respect, this all makes a lot of sense. Arthur Smith is going to have a veteran quarterback in Julian Sayin, the best wide receiver in college football in Jeremiah Smith, a 1,000-yard running back, most of his offensive line back—should be a really good offense. And, an offense that, in theory, could control the line of scrimmage and really do some damage up front.”
Ryan Day will need Arthur Smith's best play-calling in 2026
Day will need Smith to be as sharp as possible every game. The Buckeyes will face a historically tough schedule in 2026, so the offense cannot have more than one or two off-games. That Ohio State's biggest off-games came in the Big Ten Championship Game and CFP means Smith will have some grace early on.
Smith is owed one really unimaginative showing, though, and he might want to get it out of the way early in the season in Week 2 when OSU travels to Austin to take on the Texas Longhorns. The late-October/early-November Indiana Hoosiers-USC Trojans-Oregon Ducks stretch will need to see more innovation from Smith than he's ever shown.
Frankly, the entire 2026 season will need that. A return to the NFL during the next hiring cycle is on the line for Smith.
Day's legacy is on the line for giving Smith this chance.