Ohio State And Ryan Day Will Win National Championship Next Season - Read It Here 1st | Glenn Guilbeau

Nick Saban is golfing and out of football.

Jim Harbaugh will likely soon be an NFL coach and not at Michigan to defend the program's national championship.

And so, it is Ohio State coach Ryan Day's new day. Look for the Buckeyes to win the 2024-25 national championship. Yes sir. They are stocked on offense and defense and finally will have someone other than Day calling plays.

Ohio State coach Ryan Day celebrates a win at Notre Dame in the 2023 season. (Getty Images)

Harbaugh, meanwhile, is expected to do second interviews with the Los Angeles Chargers and the Atlanta Falcons this week. Look for him to become the Chargers' next head coach.

But, oh, what a match he would have made in Dallas as a real cowboy with an outlaw edge. But owner Jerry Jones stuck to his misfiring gun - coach Mike McCarthy.

Ohio State and Ryan Day will not be kicked around by Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh any more if Harbaugh takes an NFL head coaching job somewhere, as expected, but not in Dallas. (Getty Images).

Ohio State Is Loaded For 2024, And Michigan Is Clearly Not

Ohio State's worst nightmare happened on Jan. 8 when Harbaugh and Michigan beat Washington, 34-13, for the Wolverines' first national championship since 1997. Ohio State has won two since '97 (2002 and '14). And Michigan's title could be voided by the NCAA because of the serious illegal scouting and sign stealing scandal uncovered last fall. But none of that makes the Buckeyes feel that much better. Michigan did win it on the field.

Still, the nightmare turned into a sweet dream for Ohio State shortly after that title with the realization that the clock quickly struck midnight on Michigan. The Wolverines lose virtually everything going into the 2024 season. Even if Harbaugh surprises everyone - including himself - and returns to coach Michigan, it will still be in a significant rebuilding year.

In the meantime, everybody seems to be coming to Ohio State, thanks in large part to an approximate $10 million commitment to Name, Image & Likeness payouts.

Alabama superstar freshman safety Caleb Downs entered the portal and transferred to the Buckeyes last week.

So did former Alabama quarterback signee Julian Sayin and former Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien. And Ole Miss running back Quinshon Judkins.

Even If Jim Harbaugh Returns To Michigan, Cupboard's Bare

Over at Michigan, though, exactly one offensive starter is returning - tight end Colston Loveland. Quarterback J.J. McCarthy, running back Blake Corum, wide receivers Cornelius Johnson and Roman Wilson and six offensive linemen have entered the NFL Draft. Also gone are seven starters on defense. Michigan had 44 seniors in 2023.

Michigan had a national championship parade last week. Now, the parade is continuing out of Ann Arbor.

The Wolverines' recruiting class of 2024 is good - No. 16 by 247 Sports, but with no five-star prospects. And what will happen to it on the second national signing day on Feb. 7? Harbaugh may no longer be the coach by then. A promotion of offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore could help in the short term, and maybe he'll be great.

But as is the case in Tuscaloosa with new coach Kalen DeBoer and his depleting roster, Alabama will not be Alabama in 2024. And Michigan will clearly not be Michigan.

So, can Ryan Day finally make Ohio State the Ohio State again?

The Buckeyes are returning most of their starters from a 2023 team that suffered its only regular season loss to No. 1 Michigan, 30-24. And look how closer Ohio State played Michigan with Michigan not able to use its illegally obtained signage information! The Buckeyes' losses to Michigan in 2022 and '21 were by 45-23 and 42-27, respectively.

And when you really look at it, the Buckeyes had the strongest argument of the first three teams out of the final College Football Playoff rankings before the playoffs last season. Ohio State's only loss was the best loss - to a tainted team by a touchdown.

Georgia's loss, meanwhile, was to Alabama, which was No. 8 at the time with a loss. Florida State deserved to go to the CFP as an undefeated team. But with star quarterback Jordan Travis out with an injury, it was clearly not one of the four best as it limped to the finish line.

Yes, the Buckeyes looked horrible in their 14-3 loss to Missouri in the Cotton Bowl, but that was a non-playoff bowl game. Nobody cares. And Ohio State starting quarterback Kyle McCord did not play. He had already transferred to Syracuse, which also really looked bad.

Here's the good stuff, though.

Ohio State's Defense Will Be Back In 2024 Virtually In Full

Ohio State returns nine of its 11 starters from a defense that finished No. 3 in the nation to Michigan's No. 1. Among those are eight seniors - ends Jack Sawyer and J.T. Tuimoloau, tackles Tyleik Williams and Ty Hamilton, cornerbacks Denzel Burke and Jordan Hancock, safety Lathan Ransom and linebacker Cody Simon.

Burke could have been a late first-round pick or early second-round selection in the NFL Draft.

"I want to be a top 10 pick, and not only that, but to have something to show for my career down the road," Burke said. "I want to be able to show my kids and my family when I was at Ohio State, we won something."

In other words, he doesn't want to leave with Michigan on top.

"When you’ve got a bunch of guys that could have gone to the NFL, and they all come back, and they’ve got 50-some seniors on their roster, and everybody’s experienced, and all their top players are coming back, I think it helps the team win," said Sawyer, who is a potential third or fourth round pick. "So, it’s definitely something we’ve talked about."

In all, Ohio State will return defenders who made 455 tackles last season, including 42 for losses (82 percent of the total) and 15.5 sacks (91 percent of the total).

Ryan Day Would Have To Try Hard To Mess Up The Buckeyes

Returning on offense will be four starters on the line, wide receiver Emeka Egbuka (41 receptions, 515 yards, 4 TDs), and running back TreVeyon Henderson (156 rushes, 926 yards, 11 TDs). Ohio State also recently got Alabama starting center Seth McLaughlin through the portal. Judkins gained 1,158 yards last season and scored 15 touchdowns for Ole Miss. The year before, he put up 1,567 yards and 16 TDs.

Kansas State transfer Will Howard is expected to be the starting quarterback with McCord's exit. He's only OK - No. 53 in the nation in passing efficiency (140.1) last season and No. 48 in passing yards per game (220).

But as of Sunday, Howard may be challenged for that starting job by Sayin. And McCord might have been as well. Sayin (6-1, 195) is the No. 3 quarterback in the nation for the class of 2024, according to 247 Sports, out of Carlsbad, California, and could make an immediate impact.

Oh, and Ohio State last December signed Air Noland (6-2, 195) for the 2024 class. Noland is the No. 4 prep quarterback in the nation by 247 Sports composite out of Fairburn, Georgia. Ohio State's class of 2024 is No. 3 in the nation by the way and includes five-star wide receiver prospect Jeremiah Smith. He is the No. 1 overall prospect in the nation out of Chaminade-Madonna High in Hollywood, Florida, and will soften the loss of Marvin Harrison Jr. to the NFL.

Sayin's addition came on the heels of Ohio State landing Downs from Alabama via the portal last week. And the Buckeyes already had arguably the best returning secondary in the nation.

Possibly the most important news of the new year, though, happened last Friday with the addition of another Alabama veteran. Day's hiring of former Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien may prove to be one of the best moves he will make as Ohio State's coach.

Finally, Day will not be calling plays and can focus more on running his entire team. O'Brien, who most recently was New England's OC last season, will be the Buckeyes' first play caller not Ryan Day since 2016. Day came to Ohio State as co-offensive coordinator in 2017 and became permanent head coach in 2019.

Former New England offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien will be calling the plays for Ohio State in the 2024 season. (Photo by Matthew J. Lee/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

O'Brien was behind the success of quarterback Bryce Young at Alabama in 2021 when Young won the Heisman Trophy. O'Brien largely did not get the credit he deserved, though. Young led the nation that season with 4,872 passing yards as the Tide reached the national championship game before a loss to Georgia. Alabama's offense slipped a notch in 2022, but it was not all O'Brien's fault. Saban and staff did not get Young good enough receivers, and it showed.

With O'Brien, either Howard or maybe Sayin will help provide enough offense to complement the nation's best defense at Ohio State. He will be Day's missing link.

Ohio State Buckeyes, Ryan Day Have All They Need To Win It

Maybe what Day heard Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz say at a pre-Cotton Bowl press conference last month led Day to Bill O'Brien, if he had not already decided.

"We have a sign in our building that says, ‘Do your job. Put the team first. Embrace your role,’" Drinkwitz began with Day right next to him. "And I wasn’t doing that. I wasn’t embracing my role as the head coach. I was trying to hold on to my ego of being the play caller. And I needed to step back and say, 'The job as a head coach is to build this team and empower other people to do their jobs."

That's the ticket, Ryan Day.

Or yet another significant transaction by the Buckeyes that took place just last Tuesday may bite Day right where it hurts. Ohio State hired Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork to replace retiring athletic director Gene Smith, effective July 1. It was Smith who hired Ryan Day.

It will be Bjork who fires Day, sooner or later, if he doesn't start beating Michigan again very soon and wins or comes close to another national championship.

"The guy right here, he's going to get it done," Bjork said. "It's going to be great when we win those championships."

It will start next season.

Or else?