Ohio State's biggest internal weakness continues to fail in transfer portal chase of top stars
The pressure of being a coach at Ohio State is no joke. Just ask Ryan Day, who might be fighting for his job despite a stellar regular season record since taking over the program for Urban Meyer. One of the reasons he's in this uncertain predicament is that Day has stuck with the lowest-performing staff […]
The pressure of being a coach at Ohio State is no joke. Just ask Ryan Day, who might be fighting for his job despite a stellar regular season record since taking over the program for Urban Meyer. One of the reasons he's in this uncertain predicament is that Day has stuck with the lowest-performing staff member through his learning curve: Justin Frye.
Frye was brought in from UCLA in 2022, and the offensive line coach has had mixed results. While he's helped land Josh Simmons and Seth McLaughlin from the transfer portal, and then coached each up to career-best performances, the rest of his resume is discouraging.
The early transfer portal results from this postseason are looking bleak once again.
Ohio State has been chasing after top names in the transfer portal as they search to add multiple linemen to a unit lacking continuity and clarity as to who will start where in 2025. Frye, the lowest-evaluated staff member internally in 2023, has struggled to recruit high-end talent and develop who is present beyond the transfer additions.
In the review, Day outlined Frye’s 2024 objectives, emphasizing the need to create an offensive line that is “championship level,” characterized as “physical, tough, and dependable.” His goals also include recruiting and signing the “best OL class in the nation” and improving the creativity in the run game strategy.
Frye, reflecting on the past season in his year-end self-evaluation, acknowledged the necessity to “continuously adapt and adjust to the evolving recruiting landscape of college football” while also focusing on “restoring this room and team to championship status this season.”
These objectives followed a challenging 2023 season for Frye, during which his revamped offensive line faced difficulties in consistently performing and establishing unity.
This became particularly evident in the final two games of the season, where the line gave up crucial late-game pressure against Michigan, resulting in Kyle McCord’s interception, and then allowed four sacks, 10 tackles for loss, eight quarterback hurries, and two forced fumbles in their Cotton Bowl match against Missouri.
With Frye also missing on 5-star tackle David Sanders, he's now gone three classes without a 5-star prospect brought in. And his portal whiffs have led to SEC and Big Ten peers landing impact starters despite the Buckeyes having such a clear need.
Day has been critical of the line this year, remarking that it's concerning they're not succeeding in a way they must to beat Michigan and other top competitors.
“That’s the one area there that I feel like we’ve gotta make sure that we’re gonna moving forward into the next few weeks addressing,” Day said. “We have to do that. … At the end of the day we’ve gotta make sure that we have the numbers that we need. Making sure that we have the depth that we need.
“I felt like we did some of that this offseason when we upgraded in certain areas, and some of that was on the offensive line. But there’s no question that we have to win in there in that game and a lot of games."
The 2023 recruiting class is the only one deemed a successful haul. Frye came on board in January already at a disadvantage compared to his predecessor, so it was reasonable to expect him to focus on securing local talent.
The 2024 class was acceptable as well, but it didn’t have the star power as Ohio State continued to miss out on the country’s elite prospects. In 2025, the trend continues, but they ended up bringing in one less player.
Year after year, Ohio State seems to struggle, going after top talents such as Kadyn Proctor in 2023 (who committed to Alabama), Jordan Seaton in 2024 (who chose Colorado), and most recently, David Sanders Jr. in 2025 (who went to Tennessee).
Each time, it feels like they’re putting all their eggs in one basket for a five-star recruit from afar, only to come up empty-handed. They then fill the gaps with one or two regional players alongside a national recruit who isn’t likely to see playing time anytime soon.
There's still some time for new talent to enter the portal and for Ohio State to get involved. Missing on Josh Thompson, Brady Norton, Braelin Moore, and others is painful. It wasn't Frye's fault that Isaiah World didn't have the grades to get into Ohio State, but right now, Ethan Onianwa is the last obvious high-caliber proven talent in the portal.
Expecting Ohio State to land every star is unfair, but the Buckeyes are often just taking scraps compared to the top talents along the offensive line. That should never be the case for a powerhouse program in the talent-laden midwest.
