Well, Ryan Day did raise the standards of the Ohio State Buckeyes. After all, from being on the verge of losing his job to lifting the National Championship trophy, the HC wrote the perfect rags-to-riches story. However, before the 2025 season hits the pedal, someone else has been the talk of the town. That’s none other than Day’s new assistant coach. And what is the biggest USP factor of this new face? Well, he is equipped with the biggest weapon, the key to ace the recruiting race. His efforts are already paying off, now that 5-star Jackson Cantwell drops a piece of big news.

Day wrapped up the 2024 season with a trophy in hand. But he was in no mood to settle down. Instead, tapped into the revamp mode. After all, he could no longer afford any more recruiting mishaps. And for that, he had to let go of their offensive line coach Justin Frye, as he faltered in recruiting top offensive lineman prospects to Columbus, for which the Buckeyes faced a crisis at the offensive tackle position. Day had to mend the gaps and find someone better for the program.

That’s when Day gained confidence in Tyler Bowen to replace Frye. After all, the coach carried with himself a strong resume. Bowen has spent time at Maryland, Towson, Penn State, and Virginia Tech as a college coach, and while at Penn State, he was the team’s offensive recruiting coordinator. Now often the reality hits differently. Is Bowen making the most of his experience in Day’s squad?

On the March 22 episode of the Ohio State Football at Buckeye Scoop, the Buckeyes’ former player turned analyst Kirk Stickley aka Nevada Buck shared his take. Stepping into Frye’s shoes, Bowen had to face a lot of questions. “Could he recruit nationally? What’s going to be his philosophy? How’s he going to go about his business? Is he going to cast the wider net?” With two other strong coaches, secondary coach Tim Walton and wide receivers coach Brian Hartline on the boat, the pressure got 100x more for Bowen. But he is going to emerge as successful. 

In the 2025 cycle, the Buckeyes signed just three offensive linemen — though they brought in two tackles in the transfer portal. Bowen’s job is to try and make sure the transfer portal isn’t a necessity. And here the coach is the sweet-smelling flower, making targets swarm like bees because of him. As Nevada Buck revealed, “I’m going to tell you Tyler Bowen’s going to level up offense line recruiting for Ohio State because I’ve heard it from enough people now. I’ve heard it from enough agents, I’ve heard it from enough parents, I’ve heard it from enough recruits [that] he’s different. He has a different energy about the recruiting.”   

Already he has his eyes on catching a big fish. That’s none other than the “No.1 player in the country out of Missouri,” Jackson Cantwell. It is no easy task as there are a lot of hot pursuers. And guess what Bowen and Co. is already holding a soft corner.

Tyler Bowen is already wooing targets as the new O-line guru

Post his March 22 visit, Jackson Cantwell tweeted two photos from his visit. The picture showed the No.1 2026 recruit posing with HC Day standing in as the ‘H’ to help the Cantwell family form the signature ‘O-H-I-O’ sign. In another picture, he struck a pose with Bowen. The caption of the tweet read, “Had a great time at Ohio State over the last two days!” However, there lies one factor that holds Cantwell’s interest in Columbus. 

In an interview with On3, Cantwell, the class’ consensus top prospect shared, “This is probably a big visit for me because I’ll get to meet coach Bowen and the other assistants in person for the first time. I will also get to learn about those coaches. Then watching the team practice will be instrumental to see if/when an official visit could be.” Now it’s no surprise.

While serving as Penn State’s offensive recruiting coordinator from 2018 through 2020, Bowen landed superstar offensive tackle Olu Fashanu and tight end Tyler Warren. Now, Bowen has not only impressed Jackson Cantwell. He did touch 4-star Akron (Ohio) Archbishop Hoban High’s offensive tackle Sam Greer with his coaching style. Five-star Virginia offensive lineman Darius Gray was pumped upon hearing Ohio State was hiring Bowen, as the coach recruited him plenty while at Virginia Tech. He thus confessed, “So excited! That’s my guy.” That’s how Tyler Bowen’s cheers are going loud at Columbus.