By Danielle Daniels

March 17, 2025

National champion coach Ryan Day starts season No. 7 with a roster of 105 Buckeyes

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State football program started its 2025 spring drills – 15 scheduled practices culminating in a Spring Showcase at Ohio Stadium April 12 – Monday morning with 105 players joining head coach Ryan Day and his coaching staff on the indoor field of the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.

The start of practice signaled the start of Day’s seventh season leading the program and it comes just 56 days after the Buckeyes won the 2025 College Football Playoff national championship after a torrid run of victories through a gauntlet of foes. The national championship was the ninth in school history, the third this century after championships in 2002 under Jim Tressel and in 2014 under Urban Meyer, and first for Day, who enters the 2025 campaign with a terrific 70-10 record for the best winning percentage among all active coaches (.875) and the third-best in Division I college football history.

He also enters 2025 feeling different … in a good way.

“I’m definitely more relaxed,” was Day’s response today to a narrative of that ilk. “To say I’m not, is crazy. There’s no question. We’re in a different place than we were a couple of months ago. I mean, let’s call it for what it is.”

And that place – leading a national championship program – is something only two other coaches – Georgia’s Kirby Smart and Clemson’s Dabo Swinney – can lay claim to, along with Day.

Notes & Quotes from the Woody:

• The 105 players on the roster will be the roster size this August when the season begins.
• The contingent of players includes 35 returning lettermen (vs. 30 lettermen lost) with 17 defensive returnees, 15 offensive players returning and three specialists.
• There are 27 players on the roster taking part in their first Ohio State spring drills.
• The roster includes six new Buckeyes from the transfer portal: OT Phillip Daniels (Minnesota), RB C.J. Donaldson (West Virginia), DL Logan George (Idaho State), LB Ty Howard (Duquesne), TE Max Klare (Purdue) and OT Ethan Onianwa (Rice).
• The roster also includes 21 new true freshmen.
• Also on the field: eight returning starters. SAF Caleb Downs, a unanimous All-American last year, a finalist for the Thorpe Award and the Big Ten’s defensive back of the year, leads the defensive returnees that includes only two other starters: LB Sonny Styles and CB Davison Igbinosun.
• There are five offensive starters returning from 2024, led by All-American and Big Ten wide receiver and freshman of the year Jeremiah Smith. The others: WR Carnell Tate and linemen C Carson Hinzman, G Tegra Tshabola and G Austin Siereveld.
• Having a roster of versatile players will be key in this new 105-man roster world. Day singled out versatility along the offensive line: … “That’s an example of a position that we’re making sure guys play multiple positions. We’ve seen Austin play guard. We want him to play some tackle. We want Luke to play guard. We want him to play some center. I want Tegra to be able to move around. It’ll give us more versatility, especially late in the season.”
• The three scholarship quarterbacks on the roster vying to start are all young: Lincoln Kienholz is entering his third season, Julian Sayin is beginning his second and Tavian St. Clair is a true freshman.
• “Right now, we’re going to roll those guys [QBs] like we did last year,” Day said.
• One notable position change: LB C.J. Hicks has moved to defensive end. Day: “I think the first thing [one notices] is his quickness off the edge. He’s got a great first step. He’s powerful for somebody who isn’t as big or strong as maybe some of the defensive ends we’ve had. Has a good knack for rushing the passer. And so, we messed around a little bit with it last year, but now we’re going to it more full time.”
• Ohio State lost 13 scholarship players from last year’s team to the transfer portal.
• Day met with the media for 43 minutes after practice and answered 31 questions from representatives of 15 different media organizations that consistently cover the Buckeyes.
• The media – upwards of 50 were in attendance – watched, videotaped and photographed practice for a total of 1:05:43.12.

New to the assistant coach staff:

Matt Patricia – Defensive Coordinator

Tyler Bowen – Offensive Line / Run Game Coordinator

Positional promotions:

• Brian Hartline – Offensive Coordinator (and Wide Receivers)

• Keenan Bailey – Co-Offensive Coordinator (and Tight Ends)
• Billy Fessler – Quarterbacks
• Matt Guerrieri – Passing Game Coordinator (and Safeties)
• Tim Walton – Co-Defensive Coordinator (and Secondary and Cornerbacks)

Returning assistant coaches:

• Carlos Locklyn – Running Backs
• Larry Johnson – Associate Head Coach/Defensive line
• James Laurinaitis – Linebackers

New staff to the program:

• Charlie Dickey – Offensive program assistant
• Nate Ebner – Special teams quality control
• Austin Fields – Offensive quality control
• Marcus Johnson – Assistant offensive line coach
• Taver Johnson – Defensive quality control
• Colin Keanus – Offensive program assistant
• Wendy Laurent – Assistant tight ends coach
• Miguel Patrick – Defensive quality control
• Tony Washington Jr. – Defensive program assistant
• Billy Yates – Defensive quality control

Returning coaching staff members:

• Joshua Chorba – Defensive program assistant
• Gunner Daniel – Special teams program assistant
• Tim Hinton – Offensive quality control
• Michael Hunter – Assistant secondary coach
• Devin Jordan – Offensive program assistant
• Rob Keys – Special teams quality control
• Tony Johnson – Offensive quality control
• Sam McGrath – Assistant linebacker’s coach

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