Believe it or not, the 2025 season has already been flushed for plenty of upset Ohio State fans. While the loss to Miami sucked to see happen live, Ryan Day and his staff need to get work immediately on going after transfer portal targets, while also finishing up staff hires.
Ohio State football poised to land stud linebacker in the transfer portal
With Brian Hartline off to USF, there's a major void at offensive coordinator. This is going to be a top priority for Day moving forward, as the offense looked quite sluggish in the losses to Indiana and the Hurricanes to close out the year.
So, who should be at the top of the wishlist for the Ohio State faithful? While it might seem a bit off the wall, we think that Brian Daboll needs to be the one to come in and get the program back to where it needs to be for next fall and winter. Does Day have the same in mind?
"My dream for OC is Brian Daboll... Ryan Day wants to be the CEO of OSU football not the OC like Wednesday night. I don't think he wants an up and coming flashy hire. He wants an experienced guy."
— 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) January 2, 2026
đź“ž@JorshP on who Ohio State could target as their next offensive coordinatorđź‘€ pic.twitter.com/go4ZrA5Hpu
Brian Daboll as the new Ohio State football OC would be a great hire for Ryan Day
While some people may be skeptical about this, keep in mind that Day made a pretty similar hire last offseason, but on defense. When Jim Knowles bailed for Penn State in a shocker, Day replaced him with Matt Patricia. That turned out to be an incredible decision.
The haters were out in full force that Day had made a giant mistake, but there's no denying that the Ohio State defense was downright sensational in 2025. Patricia proved to be a home-run hire for the Buckeyes and he's all set to make a strong impact in '26 too.
Will the same be said for Daboll? Don't let his rough go with the New York Giants fool you - this guy is an offensive genius. He was able to work wonders with Josh Allen in Buffalo and in Year 1 with Big Blue, he was the Coach of the Year and helped the G-Men reach the playoffs.
After that, things went south for him in East Rutherford, but no one can question the fact that he knows what it takes to move the ball and help develop players. This has got to be something that Day is keeping in mind too. Soon enough, a new OC hire will be made and while there are several candidates up on the board, going after Daboll first and getting things finalized soon would be a wise decision for Ohio State.