Ohio State head coach Ryan Day is having an interesting season. Although the Buckeyes entered as preseason national title favorites, Ohio State already has three losses to Texas, USC and Oregon.
One other awkward part of his season is that his son, RJ Day, a class of 2027 quarterback, committed to play for another Big Ten school. RJ recently committed to Northwestern, where he'll play under former Buckeyes offensive coordinator Chip Kelly.
Here's everything you need to know about Ryan Day's son's commitment to Northwestern.
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Who is RJ Day?
RJ Day is the oldest of Day and his wife, Nina's, three children. RJ was, of course, born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, and attended St. Francis de Sales Catholic High School there. Day is a member of the class of 2027 and is rated by the 247Sports Composite as a three-star recruit.
He is rated by the outlet as the No. 116 overall quarterback for 2027 and checks in 76th overall in the state of Ohio.
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RJ Day offers
Per the 247Sports Composite, Day held offers from power-conference schools such as Boston College, Cincinnati, Northwestern, Syracuse and Purdue. His offer list did not include Ohio State, unsurprisingly.
RJ Day, the son of Ohio State head coach Ryan Day, throws for a DeSales record 482 yards and the game-winning touchdown to Buckeye target Jordan Karhoff.
RJ Day commits to Northwestern
Day took an official visit to Northwestern, in May 2026, and committed a couple days later. As it turns out, Wildcats head coach David Braun had hired Chip Kelly just five months prior.
Kelly, the former Oregon and San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles head coach, had spent the 2024 season with Coach Day as the Buckeyes' offensive coordinator. He helped lead the Buckeyes to their first national championship since 2014 that season, and left to take the OC job with the Oakland Raiders in 2025. So far with the Wildcats, Northwestern is off to a 6-3 start, with the offense averaging 31 points per game.
Coach Day said in an interview how weird it was visiting other schools as a head coach himself.
"It was awkward, to be honest, when you walk through hallways on visits to places like Clemson and South Carolina, you kind of get a double look," Ryan said in an interview with CBS Sports. "I think there's a certain affinity that all coaches have for a coach's kid. We visited Purdue and Barry Odom couldn't have been nicer.
...We visited UCLA and we visited different teams in the conference, and they couldn't have been any greater."
RJ Day will also get to work with Wildcat quarterbacks coach Jerry Neuheisel, the son of former Washington and UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel.
"Football is something that my son is obsessed with," Coach Day said via USA Today. "And to know that his position coach is Jerry Neuheisel, whose dad was a coach, and that his offensive coordinator is Chip Kelly, who coached me and coached with me, that's special," Day continued. "David Braun is the head coach and man in charge; he and RJ hit it off. The institution itself is tremendous, so it was fun to watch him do this."
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RJ Day high school stats
According to MaxPreps, Day threw for 1,146 yards with 11 touchdowns and two interceptions tracked across three seasons. He is listed by 247Sports at 5-11, 203 pounds.
