RJ Day, son of Ohio State coach Ryan Day, commits to Northwestern: Here's how it shapes NU's future
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Northwestern football got its quarterback of the future with a connection that was decades in the making.
RJ Day committed to Northwestern this past weekend, giving the 'Cats a quarterback to develop for the future. Day has Big Ten football in his blood, too.
His dad, Ryan Day, is the head coach of Ohio State. RJ's commitment to Northwestern is significant for the Big Ten because of his lineage. It's also significant for the ‘Cats’ future because of how past connections play with the future.
By the numbers
Day committed to Northwestern as a three-star quarterback prospect out of Columbus, Ohio. He's rated as the 86th-best quarterback prospect in the nation.
"Super excited to announce my commitment to further my football and academic career at Northwestern University!! Thank you to everyone along my journey who has made this possible," Day wrote in a post on X. "Excited for the next step and ready to get to work!"
Day currently plays at St. Francis DeSales High School in Columbus.
As a junior last season, he broke two DeSales' single-season passing records with 2,710 passing yards and 25 passing touchdowns. Near the end of his junior season, Day broke another school record when he threw for 482 yards and three touchdowns in a single game in a 33-29 win over Ashland High School.
As a college prospect, Day has offers from 18 schools. Two of them – Purdue and Northwestern – are Big Ten schools. He also had offers from Cincinnati, Syracuse, Boston College and South Florida.
Big picture view
Day's commitment is a result of the ‘Cats' latest hire at offensive coordinator.
David Braun hired Chip Kelly as NU's offensive coordinator. Kelly's last job in college football was serving as the OC at Ohio State under Ryan Day when the Buckeyes won the College Football Playoff national championship in the 2024 season. Years ago, Kelly was also the offensive coordinator at New Hampshire from 1999 to 2006. In his time at UNH, Kelly had a quarterback named Ryan Day who set nine school records.
NU has a quarterback in the Class of 2026 in Johnny O'Brien. He's expected to redshirt in 2026 as Aiden Chiles and Nicco Marchiol compete for the starting quarterback job.
Day is in the Class of 2027. He could be a player who can come in and redshirt behind O'Brien before challenging for the starting quarterback job. It won't be a given, considering how highly Northwestern's staff views O'Brien, but Day is a quarterback prospect who brings
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