Ever since taking over for Urban Meyer on an interim basis back in August the whispers have been prevalent: “Ryan Day is ready for a big job.”

Depending on which publications you read, Day has been rumored for nearly every meaningful college job and is in the wind for NFL offensive coordinator jobs as well. This comes after turning down reported interest for Mississippi State’s head coaching gig and the Tennessee Titans’ offensive coordinator job last winter.

With that said, sources tell FootballScoop Ohio State is taking Ryan Day off the job market, with a significant raise coming and with the (most likely) unwritten understanding that he is in line to become head coach once Urban steps down. What’s that you say? Urban stepping down? So about that…

While Urban has stated repeatedly publicly that he plans to coach next year, sources tell FootballScoop that the Ohio State head coach continues to contemplate his future on an ongoing basis, and we hear he has told Gene Smith that he doesn’t expect to continue to coach past the 2019 season. One source told us we should expect Urban to address this in the days following Saturday’s Big Ten Championship.

While Meyer has publicly reiterated his plans to coach next season, he has also laid out reasons why it would make sense to step away. Most notably, holding an informal press conference late last month detailing his ongoing bout with an arachnoid cyst in his brain that has led to “aggressive headaches.”

Though he had brief experience with Meyer previously — serving as a graduate assistant on Meyer’s first Florida staff — Day was not hired with an eye toward making him Meyer’s eventual successor. The 39-year-old was hired after two years working with Chip Kelly to revamp the Buckeyes’ struggling passing offense, and in 2017 he helped Ohio State jump from 44th to fifth nationally in passing efficiency. That led to a raise and promotion as Ohio State’s sole offensive coordinator this season, a season in which he has impressed by serving as interim head coach through training camp and the first three games of this season (all wins). While managing that increased responsibility, Day has also coordinated a Buckeye attack that has retooled on the fly to fit the skill set of first-time starting quarterback Dwayne Haskins, and still ranks second nationally in total offense and seventh in scoring heading into Saturday’s Big Ten championship.

NFL teams could come calling in the coming weeks and while no one should ever say never in these situations, sources tell FootballScoop that Ohio State likes its positioning to keep Day in Columbus for the foreseeable future.