The date was Dec. 12, 2019, a Thursday. Ohio State was 13-0 and a No. 2 seed in the upcoming College Football Playoff, set to face defending national champion Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl. It was a full-circle moment for the program, a rematch of the 2016 game where the Tigers blanked the Buckeyes 31-0 en route to Dabo Swinney's first national title. That game ultimately brought Ryan Day to Columbus, and so the upcoming game would be the perfect opportunity for Day to prove just how far he'd taken the program in his three seasons on the job.
But, on Dec. 12, the Fiesta Bowl was still weeks away. The college football calendar was in its ebb time, between games but still lots to be done: recruiting, the awards circuit, recruiting, graduation, recruiting and more recruiting.
For Ohio State's first-year head coach, obligations stacked on top of each other.
Four Buckeyes -- quarterback Justin Fields, defensive lineman Chase Young, cornerback Jeff Okudah and running back JK Dobbins -- would be in Atlanta for ESPN's Home Depot College Football Awards Show. Two days later, Fields and Young would both represent the program in New York as finalists for the Heisman Trophy. The pair would ultimately come in third and fourth to former Buckeye Joe Burrow. Day was expected to join that scarlet-and-gray quartet, and surely wanted to.
But at the same time, Day was also expected in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. That's the day a 4-star quarterback named CJ Stroud opened his home to Day and Ohio State quarterbacks coach Mike Yurcich. As the head coach, this was the one opportunity for Day to visit the Stroud home before the early signing period opened the following week.
Stroud was not committed at that time. He officially visited Georgia, Oregon and Michigan the three weekends prior, and was set to see Ohio State the upcoming weekend. As an early enrollee, Stroud was weeks away from moving to whichever campus he chose. Time was of the utmost importance.
Obviously, Day could not be in Atlanta and Southern California at the same time, so he chose SoCal. Day did not specify who the "they" is below, but Day's contract (as is standard in the industry) included a clause requiring him to make media appearances on the program's behalf.
"I remember when (Yurcich) and I were out in California recruiting and I was supposed to be at the Home Depot awards. We got in trouble that night because I wasn't there. I think they wanted to fine us for that," Day said Tuesday, in advance of facing Yurcich, now Penn State's offensive coordinator.
"They did," Ohio State associate AD for communications Jerry Emig chimed in.
"We were doing a home visit with CJ Stroud. So they can fine us whatever they want," Day said.
I found the specific clause Ohio State used from the contract Day worked under at the time.
Day's lawyer could have argued the "schedule permitting" phrase would excuse him from any penalty, but whatever the case the fine was so insignificant that Day had to be reminded it actually happened.
Either way, the story ended happily for all involved. Well, most everyone. Young won the Bednarik Award and Nagurski Trophy as the national defensive player of the year that night. Fields, Dobbins and Okudah went home empty handed, but Day and Yurcich didn't.
Stroud visited Ohio State that weekend, committed on Signing Day, enrolled the next month, and to date has thrown for 7,140 yards and 75 touchdowns.