Dae’Quan Wright has become an example of the chaos in college football after committing to a college program from the NFL, the first of its kind. While discussing the frequency of such controversial issues in college football, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day could not help but express his frustration and reveal Ohio State’s likely response if the program finds itself in a similar situation.

“I told myself I would stop saying this is crazy,” Day said to the media on August 24 as the Buckeyes began their fourth week of practice. “So I’m not gonna say that. But to think that we’re in a situation where we’re this late in the season, and our rosters aren’t locked in is frustrating, at the very least. But I’m not gonna sit here and keep saying that. So what does that mean for us? That’s the bottom line. Well, I think, in my opinion, the conferences have to decide if there’s a point where their rosters have to be locked in. Because once some of these guys become available, adding them to the roster is going to provide an advantage for certain teams.”

“But if there are teams that have some players out there who are cut from NFL rosters that are gonna be on other teams, we have to at least consider it and look at it. Do I like anything about it? Absolutely not, but we gotta do what’s right for Ohio State. So it’s sort of a day-to-day thing right now. “

Former Cleveland Browns tight end Dae’Quan Brown will now play college football in 2026 despite entering the 2026 NFL Draft and signing with two teams this offseason. The Philadelphia Eagles were the first franchise to sign him as an undrafted free agent before waiving him on August 10. The Browns picked him up the next day, only to release him two weeks later. Eventually, he landed with his former coach, Lane Kiffin, and would play for the LSU Tigers in 2026.

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Unbeknownst to the NCAA, the age-based eligibility rule, introduced to end chaos in college football, eventually became the mother of numerous legal battles. Athletes like Wright from the 2022 class were ruled out of the five-year eligibility granted by the new model. As a result, many of them took the NCAA to court and won. Wright’s case, however, was the first involving a player already signed to an NFL team.

Despite the “craziness” of the situation, as a coach, Day understands the need to always bolster his squad and would not turn down the kind of offer Kiffin had for Wright if his program were involved.

Multiple other student-athletes are in the same boat. What makes the situation more complicated is that the NCAA got an injunction against such eligibility waivers on a nationwide scale. But players who have individual injunction orders can still feature next season.