Eli LedermanMay 10, 2026, 11:25 AM ETCloseEli Lederman covers college football and recruiting for ESPN.com. He joined ESPN in 2024 after covering the University of Oklahoma for Sellout Crowd and the Tulsa World.Multiple Authors
Ryan Day compares changing college football landscape to dinosaurs (0:41)Ohio State coach Ryan Day details a documentary he watched on dinosaurs and why he views it as similar to adapting in college football. (0:41)
Class of 2027 quarterback R.J. Day, the son of Ohio State coach Ryan Day, announced his commitment to Northwestern on Sunday.
The 6-foot-1, 205-pound passer from Columbus, Ohio, is a three-year starter at Ohio’s St. Francis DeSales High School, where he owns multiple school passing records. He announced his pledge to the Wildcats on social media over offers from Purdue, Syracuse, Cincinnati and South Florida, among others.
R.J. Day, who is not ranked by ESPN, lands as the fifth member of coach David Braun’s recruiting class for 2027. The program currently has eight quarterbacks on its roster, including Michigan State transfer Aidan Chiles and Class of 2026 signee Johnny O’Brien.
Notably, Day is now committed to play under first-year Wildcats offensive coordinator Chip Kelly. The former Oregon and UCLA coach was the offensive coordinator at New Hampshire when Ryan Day emerged as a record-setting, three-year starting quarterback and team captain with the program from 1998 to 2001.
Ryan Day later hired Kelly as the Buckeyes’ offensive coordinator for the program’s national title-winning season in 2024. Kelly, who spent the 2025 season calling plays for the Las Vegas Raiders, joined Northwestern’s coaching staff in December.
R.J. Day’s commitment concludes a recruiting process that included a flurry of offers this spring and visits to Clemson, Iowa State, Kentucky, Northwestern, UCLA and Virginia Tech. Northwestern, with Kelly on staff, and South Florida, now led by former Ohio State wide receivers coach and offensive coordinator Brian Hartline, marked a pair of notable recent offers.
Day is the career leader in passing yards (5,714) and touchdowns (54) at DeSales, where he will enter his fourth season as the school’s starting quarterback later this year. He set single-season program records in both categories (2,710 yards, 25 touchdowns) as a junior last fall.
Ryan Day compares changing college football landscape to dinosaurs (0:41)Ohio State coach Ryan Day details a documentary he watched on dinosaurs and why he views it as similar to adapting in college football. (0:41)
Ohio State coach Ryan Day details a documentary he watched on dinosaurs and why he views it as similar to adapting in college football. (0:41)
Eli LedermanMay 10, 2026, 11:25 AM ETCloseEli Lederman covers college football and recruiting for ESPN.com. He joined ESPN in 2024 after covering the University of Oklahoma for Sellout Crowd and the Tulsa World.Multiple Authors
CloseEli Lederman covers college football and recruiting for ESPN.com. He joined ESPN in 2024 after covering the University of Oklahoma for Sellout Crowd and the Tulsa World.