When it comes to the topic of head coaches in college football, Ryan Day’s name always seems to be near the top of the discussion.
You likely won’t find a head coach with more mixed opinions surrounding him.
Looking at Day’s track record, it would appear as a very solid one to the average eye. Ohio State has made the College Football Playoff four times during his tenure and has also won two Big Ten titles. The Buckeyes have only lost two home games under Day, both of which to archrival Michigan.
While nearly every other school in the country would give a lot to have these kinds of successes, some Ohio State supporters tend to view their head coach through a sour lens. That tends to happen when the Buckeyes lose four games in a row to “that team up north.”
In an attempt to cut through some of the smoke and mirrors, here’s a look at the man at the helm for Ohio State.
From coast to coast
Day started his career in college football as a quarterback for his home state University of New Hampshire Wildcats where he played under current Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly for a number of seasons.
The Manchester, New Hampshire, native entered in coaching as the tight ends specialist for his alma mater in 2002 before stops as a graduate assistant at Boston College and Florida in the following seasons.
Day was tasked with wide receiver duties at Temple for one year before returning to Boston College in the same role as a part of the staff that produced Matt Ryan as the third overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft.
He flipped back to Temple as the offensive coordinator in 2012 and returned for his third stint with the Eagles as their coordinator.
In 2015, Day made the jump to the NFL for two seasons, both as the quarterbacks coach for the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers.
After his experience in the pros, Ohio State hired Day as a co-offensive coordinator in 2017, setting the well-traveled coach on a fast track towards one of the most prestigious jobs in all of sports.
Filling big shoes
Any coach that has to follow Urban Meyer knows they have their work cut out for them.
After Meyer ended his college coaching career with a Rose Bowl victory, Day was promptly named his successor in 2019 after spending a number of years within the Ohio State program.
Day started his head coaching career with a bang, winning the Big Ten Conference Coach of the Year award in his first season after leading his squad to a Big Ten championship and a Playoff berth.
The following season was plagued with the COVID-19 pandemic, but that wouldn’t stop Day’s Buckeyes who punched a ticket to the national championship game.
It was a bit of a let-down for Ohio State in 2021, losing to Michigan for the first time in a decade, a trend that would soon come to haunt Day as far as college football’s top rivalry goes. The 2022 Buckeyes fell to the Wolverines once again and were a missed field goal short of another trip to the national championship. Ohio State would miss the playoff the next season.
An unfamiliar foe
As it now stands, Day’s next game may be his very biggest.
After a brutal home loss to Michigan in the final game of the regular season, Tennessee will be the next opponent hoping to play spoiler with the pressure at an all-time high in the first round of the Playoff.
“I think, you gotta learn coming out of the season on where you’ve been,” Day said on Monday. “The bottom line is when you look at where we are right now, we’ve gotta make sure that we’re maximizing our strengths and minimizing our weaknesses or deficiencies, and that we all have to take accountability to do our job.”
A home win against Tennessee and a chance at a rematch with Oregon in the Rose Bowl game would likely be a sufficient prescription to help aid the painful end of the regular season for the Buckeyes. A loss though could yield even more issues and make Day’s future in Columbus a shaky one.
“Nothing matters if the problems aren’t fixed,” Day said. “That’s what it comes down to.”
