In week 11, Ryan Day, along with his players, traveled to face Barry Odom’s Purdue. Day’s son, RJ, was also doing the same, traveling to West Lafayette. But this wasn’t your usual father-son outing for an Ohio State game. Instead, RJ had his visit scheduled at Purdue for his recruitment. The date might have been just a coincidence, but it sure tested RJ’s loyalties.

RJ, who is used to traveling to his father’s games on the road, felt weird not being around the Ohio State players. Instead, the St. Frances de Sales QB was sitting quietly in the stands, probably in a stoic fashion as OSU pummeled Purdue 34-10. “It was weird pregame not being around the guys, but other than that it was pretty typical,” said RJ about his visit to ON3.

It’s been seven years since RJ Day has watched the Ohio State team closely. When Ohio State defeated Notre Dame last year to win the natty, RJ was with the players, cheering for his father’s team. But when the Buckeyes got defeated by Michigan, RJ had similar dejected emotions. Seeing the program inside and out, RJ is a Buckeye through and through. But OSU has maintained a professional approach in the QB’s recruitment.

So, while OSU hasn’t handed him an offer, he still has 15 odd offers from other teams. That might be another reason he made the most of his Purdue visit and praised Coach Odom. “It was a unique opportunity, and it was planned weeks beforehand. Coach Odom and Coach [Darin] Hinshaw handled everything very classy. I have a ton of respect for them,” said RJ. To make matters even more professional, RJ and his father, Ryan Day, also drove “separately.”

The 6’1″ and 210 lbs passer described how he “put on some music” and reached West Lafayette within 5 hours. Moreover, despite feeling weird about not having OSU players around, sitting across from his father wasn’t that unusual for RJ. “It wasn’t very weird at all. I just tried to stay emotionless and handle it with the same respect that I was receiving from their end. Every place is unique, that’s what’s so great about college football. It’s cool to see what every place has to offer,” said RJ.

Notably, RJ has climbed those 2027 recruitment rankings steadily. The QB so far has offers from teams like Boston College, Akron, and Charlotte, among others. However, his most recent offer was still Purdue on Jun 14th after Syracuse offered him on May 7th. RJ is currently the 58th-ranked QB in the 2027 class, and seeing the type of performances he has been putting up will surely propel him even further.

Ryan Day opens up on his son’s visit to Purdue

RJ, this year, is representing his high school as a junior and has already accumulated 1,425 yards last year. That performance in 2024 made him the fifth-highest passer in the school’s history. Not to mention, his efficiency at 67.3% was decent, which also involved two three-TD games last year.

Before coming to West Lafayette, RJ passed for a whopping 482 yards in a single game and set the school record for passing in a single game. That surely points to even better things to come as he perfects his craft from the second-highest paid coach in CFB. As for his father, he was nonchalant about RJ’s Purdue visit.

“These guys are great. “It’s a great school. He and I visited here in the spring. Barry and his staff are excellent … I think they’ve got a chance to be good in the future. [RJ] had a chance to be a recruit today, which I think was awkward for him, but the people are great here and he was able to enjoy himself.”” said Ryan Day.

All in all, RJ’s recruitment is currently in its initial phase since he is still developing as a QB. Still, we have seen bluebloods like Ohio State not offering prospects this early, and that may explain why the Buckeyes haven’t offered him one yet. That said, the guy exhibits exceptional athleticism, velocity, and arm strength, not to mention his high football IQ, inherited from his father. That’s undoubtedly a recipe for success.