Ryan Day’s son RJ commits to Northwestern football over Purdue

Northwestern football is stuck in the middle in a very competitive Big Ten, as the league has slowly become arguably the best in the entire sport. In order to keep up, it all comes down to recruiting.

On Sunday, the Wildcats landed what they hope will be a diamond in the rough. Class of 2027 quarterback RJ Day, the son of Ohio State head coach Ryan Day, has committed to Northwestern over Purdue, according to Rivals.

Day is a three-star recruit, ranked as the No. 1,178 player in the nation. He is the No. 78 ranked quarterback in the country and the No. 44 player in the state of Ohio, per Rivals and On3 Sports. Day has played his high school ball at St. Francis DeSales in Columbus and will play out his senior season this fall before going to Northwestern.

The Wildcats have seen a mixed bag at quarterback over the years. SMU transfer Preston Stone gave Northwestern some serviceable play at the position last season after losing the job with the Mustangs, and David Braun and company will be relying on transfers at the position again in 2026.

Michigan State transfer Aidan Chiles and West Virginia transfer Nicco Marichol will battle it out for the starting job, but Chiles seems to be the favorite. Chiles, who started out at Oregon State before transferring to Michigan State with head coach Jonathan Smith, has a lot of talent that Northwestern is hoping to turn into one of the top quarterbacks in the conference under the tutelage of new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly.

While Day likely won’t be ready to start in 2027 given his pedigree as a lower-ranked recruit, he still has plenty of potential and could be a starting quarterback of the future for the Wildcats. Northwestern is hoping that he is exactly that and that he can provide some stability to the quarterback room for the years to come.

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