Son of Ohio State coach Ryan Day commits to Northwestern to play under the offensive coordinator who once coached his father.
It’s never exactly the offseason in college football, as programs are working towards building their future recruiting classes ahead of fall camp. The Northwestern Wildcats recently picked up their fifth member of the class of 2027 – the son of active Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day. Day’s son, R.J. Day, committed to the Wildcats over multiple Power Four offers including the Purdue Boilermakers, Syracuse Orange, Cincinnati Bearcats, and South Florida Bulls. It also reunites a unique family thread, as Wildcats offensive coordinator Chip Kelly coached Ryan Day back in college as the three-year starting quarterback at New Hampshire from 1998-2001.
That was something that R.J. Day noted in his decision-making process. The 6-foot-1, 205-pound quarterback hails from Columbus, Ohio, where he is entering his fourth year as a starter for St. Francis DeSales High School. Day holds the career school records in passing yards (5,714) and touchdowns (54) and had a terrific junior season setting single-season records with 2,710 passing yards and 25 touchdowns. Despite all that, he’s unranked by ESPN’s recruiting database.
To read more about the major recruiting pickup, here is the full story from Northwestern Roundtable writer Ryan Cole.
Kelly joined the staff at Northwestern back in December of 2025 after spending a season in the NFL with the Las Vegas Raiders. He also worked under Day during the Buckeyes’ national title run in 2024 as OC. That all had to entice Day, who took multiple visits to programs this spring, with the Wildcats emerging a bit late in the race – a race they ultimately won in the end.