Former Ohio State teammates 'hurting' after death of Steelers quarterback Dwayne Haskins

Dwayne Haskins was still on the mind of Ryan Day when the Ohio State football coach conducted a news conference Monday morning.

Day opened his media session by paying tribute to Haskins, the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback who was killed Saturday morning when he was struck by a dump truck on an interstate in south Florida. Haskins was 24.

Day and Haskins spent two seasons together in Columbus before the redshirt sophomore quarterback declared for the NFL Draft.

“It was a very, very difficult weekend for all of us,” said Day, adding that he met with his players to talk about Haskins and what he meant to the Ohio State program.

“There are a good group of guys who played with Dwayne, and they are hurting,” Day said.

Day said Ohio State will honor Haskins on Saturday during the football team’s spring game.

Coach Day's opening remarks at today's press conference remembering Dwayne Haskins. pic.twitter.com/IsOhHkzT4m

— Ohio State Buckeyes ???? (@OhioStAthletics) April 11, 2022

Day wasn’t on the Ohio State staff when Haskins committed to the Buckeyes. But he was co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2017 when Haskins was a redshirt freshman. The following season, when Day also served as acting head coach for three games, Haskins set single-season passing records and finished third in Heisman Trophy voting.

Haskins was a mentor to Day’s son, R.J., and once accompanied the child to a high school football game.

“It’s hard to wrap your mind around something like this, especially when it just happened so tragically to a young person, especially somebody who had a big heart,” Day said. “When you think about Dwayne, you think about the compassion he had, certainly for all of his teammates and friends. He always took time after practice to be around family members, kids.”

When he was 11 years old, Haskins predicted he would attend Ohio State. His vow was captured in a brief video when he was walking around the Ohio State locker room while wearing a red uniform with his name and the No. 7 on the back. It was the number he would wear with the Buckeyes upon enrolling at Ohio State in 2016.

“He set a dream, he chased it and he did it,” Day said.

After two difficult years in Washington, which made him the No. 15 overall pick in the 2019 draft, Haskins signed with the Steelers after he was given his release. Day said Steelers coach Mike Tomlin made a point to visit him in Columbus that spring to talk about Haskins.

“Coach Tomlin was unbelievable,” Day said. “He and I got together here and had conversations. He really wanted to help Dwayne. He saw those special traits in Dwayne and really poured into him. Dwayne made some changes. He was all in.”

Haskins was walking along I-595 — an eight-lane highway — near the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport when he was struck at 6:37 a.m. Saturday. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police don’t know why Haskins was walking on the highway, and a report might not become part of public record for 90 to 120 days.

Haskins was in south Florida, along with several other Steelers players, at the request of quarterback Mitch Trubisky, who had invited some of his new teammates to his home there.

The outpouring of emotion from former coaches, teammates and friends was immediate.

“He left a legacy even at 24 years old,” Day said. “I think it says so much about who he was as a person because of that.”