Ohio State’s Ryan Day Offended Michigan Recruit

Ohio State Buckeyes coach Ryan Day was caught in hot water with a near-recruit.

Freshman running back Jonathan Brown, who eventually committed to the Michigan Wolverines but thought he was dead set on ending up in Columbus eventually, had some choice words for Day on Coaches Corner with John McCallister.

"I would say it wasn't disappointing," Brown said of the fallout with the Buckeyes not pursuing him. "Because I knew Coach Day personally, and we had conversations. But, yeah, I felt disrespected."

Brown had close ties to Day while in high school, playing with his son, R.J. Day. But now, all that has been put aside for Brown, who has his Wolverines career ahead of him.

These remarks come just weeks after Ryan Day was dead set on the kind of player he wants to coach.

"And understanding that on the front end, that means there's a lot of places you can go, maybe Ohio State's not it," Ryan Day said on the Not Just Football podcast.

Brown was a three-star recruit out of St. Francis de Sales, who also had interest from Rutgers, Air Force and Cornell, to name a few.

Did Day take a shot at Brown?

Whether Ryan Day took a subtle shot at Brown is unclear, but his stance on difficult schedules is. Therefore, playing for the Buckeyes remains much more than an opportunity to get to the next level.

"We embrace the expectations," Ryan Day said. "Nobody is making excuses for the tough schedule next year. Nobody is making excuses for all these different things. That's it, man. That's it. That's never going to change."

Ryan Day added that simply put, no one should openly make excuses for their shortcomings whether on or off the field.

"That's where I got the mantra of, ‘Leave no doubt' because, you know, it can't come down to one call," Ryan Day said. "That was the whole philosophy coming into the ‘24 season. ‘Don’t leave it to one call.' Because if you leave it to one call, you deserve to lose."

When the Buckeyes and Wolverines meet again this November, the bad blood may boil over on both sides. Brown may or may not even see Ryan Day pregame or post-game, but there's little doubt Brown will ever forget how Ryan Day made him feel.

Sometimes, stars are not meant to allign. In this case, they didn't with Ryan Day and Brown.

But, ultimately, the rivalry lives on.

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