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There was conjecture regarding Day and if his irate supporters could tolerate yet another setback during a season that was geared toward a push for the national championship.
Following the Michigan defeat, a team meeting became heated. Grievances were voiced and feelings worked out.
“Adversity in life can be handled in a variety of ways, and it strengthened our bonds as a team,” receiver Emeka Egbuka stated. “We’ve grown stronger as a result of being able to support one another at that time.
Denzel Burke, a cornerback, made sure to stay up until the very end of the 2024 national championship game to witness rival Michigan hoist the trophy after their 34–13 victory against Washington. That was twenty months and twelve days ago. He was so hurt that he had to go into the restroom to calm himself after playing the game on his phone during dinner with teammate Lathan Ransom.
Losing to your competition is never enjoyable, and seeing your rival win the national title is much less enjoyable. Thanks in part to a bunch of veterans who left the NFL to go back to school and try to win a title, Michigan defeated Ohio State and won the entire season last year.
Day’s goal for the Buckeyes in 2024 was the same. Ohio State would need to emulate Michigan in order to defeat them. In one sense, anyway. Ohio State tried to get its best players to go back to school as well, as they had $20 million to spend on NIL deals. Leading the attack was defensive end Jack Sawyer, a devoted Buckeyes supporter who grew up in the adjacent town of Pickerington, Ohio.
Soon after, he and seven other players—offensive linemen Donovan Jackson, Egbuka, Burke, defensive end JT Tuimoloau, tailback TreVeyon Henderson, defensive tackle Tyleik Williams, and defensive tackle Ty Hamilton—left the NFL to return to school for one more season.
“It just kind of fueled our fire a little bit to come back and hoist the national championship trophy,” Burke stated. “To be able to see them win it all like that, we wanted a piece of that.”
There has been significant player growth and retention: the Buckeyes have started 19 players that signed with the institution, totaling over 520 starts. Since they hadn’t added anything to the trophy case inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, many members of the signing class of 2021—the team’s foundation—returned because they didn’t want their careers to end that way.
Linebacker Cody Simon remarked, “This may be the most selfless thing I have ever been a part of.” “A lot of guys had the chance to be selected in the first or second round of the NFL draft. They returned to play together for another year.
It takes a lot to make this all work together, so I applaud all the guys who made a decision and all the guys that joined who weren’t in our program.
In addition to bringing in important transfer portal additions, including as running back Quinshon Judkins, safety Caleb Downs, and quarterback Will Howard, Day signed a top-tier recruiting class that included receiver Jeremiah Smith. Ohio State would be among the nation’s most talented teams going into 2024. From the beginning, expectations were clear.
“At this time last year, which is crazy to think about, guys decided to come back and put their personal goals aside to achieve this goal,” Ransom stated. “It’s quite unique. ‘Win or bust,’ I detest, yet we worked hard to win.”
In order to give his players the fullest understanding of the voyage they were about to take, Day realized he needed something. Day showed the squad a photo of a lighthouse in the midst of an ocean storm at their first preseason meeting this season. He informed them that the lighthouse keeper was depending on the lighthouse being constructed with a sturdy foundation to endure the storm.
He then related the tale of the three bricklayers who constructed St. Paul’s Cathedral and the significance of properly laying each brick. He informed the group that one player would receive a brick in shades of red and gray each day following practice. His task would be to lay the groundwork for the future. It was not possible to arrange the blocks carelessly or at random. That foundation needed to be built correctly.
Players could see the bricks being stacked every day as they made their way outside to practice. They could see the bricks being stacked every day as they made their way back into the locker area. Now, a fundamental wall is formed by precisely stacking more than 100 bricks. “That wall is built for anything—the fire that we went through, the perseverance that we have, and here we are now,” added Burke.
There will be storms, Day declared. “How is the base constructed? Was a solid rock or sand base used for its construction? We were aware of the impending storms. We had no idea when, but in the end, that would enable us to weather those storms.
