Ryan Day got double takes while on college visits with his son

What was it like for Ohio State football coach Ryan Day to visit prospective schools with his son, RJ Day, a quarterback commit to Big Ten opponent Northwestern?

“It is a little awkward, to be honest, when you walk through,” Day told CBS Sports on Aug. 21. “We visited Clemson and South Carolina, and when you walk through the hallways, you kind of get a double look. But I think there’s a certain affinity that all coaches have to coaches’ kids.”

Day said Big Ten coaches showed kindness to him and his son on visits. He mentioned Purdue coach Barry Odom “couldn’t have been any nicer” during RJ’s visit.

Ohio State football coach Ryan Day reflects on son’s Northwestern commitment

Day also mentioned the significance of his connections to the Northwestern coaching staff.

“To know that his position coach is Jerry Neuheisel, whose dad is a coach, and then his offensive coordinator, Chip Kelly, who coached me and coached with me [which] certainly is special,” Day said. “But David Braun is the head coach and he’s the man in charge, and he and RJ hit it off.”

Chip Kelly, who was Ryan Day’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach when Ohio State won the national championship in the 2024-25 season, coached Ryan Day at the University of New Hampshire. Day was also on Kelly’s NFL coaching staffs in 2015 and 2016 with the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers.

Kelly was hired by Northwestern in December 2025. Before that, he spent one season with the Las Vegas Raiders as the offensive coordinator before being fired on Nov. 23.

RJ Day’s future quarterbacks coach, Neuheisel, is the son of former college coach Rick Neuheisel. Originally serving as assistant head coach of UCLA in 2025, Jerry Neuheisel acted as interim offensive coordinator after Bruins offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri was fired. In January, Northwestern hired Jerry Neuheisel to serve as the quarterbacks coach.

In the end, Ryan Day was pleased with RJ’s recruiting process.

“The institution itself is tremendous,” Ryan Day said. “It was fun to watch [RJ] do this; he’s obsessed, like I said, with the process and the game of football, and as a dad that’s all you can ask for.

RJ Day, who gave a verbal committment to Northwestern in May, has been the starting quarterback at DeSales since 2023. He is a three-star quarterback in the 2027 class and is entering his senior year.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ryan Day got double takes while on college visits with his son