ATLANTA — Watching Ohio State in the College Football Playoff last month was like watching an aircraft carrier depart on a dime. How can one coach be so maligned and then become a legend in the same seven weeks? Is it America, or maybe Ohio State?
Probably both.
After Ohio State won its ninth national championship with a 34-23 win over Notre Dame, former coach Jim Tressel said, “Everyone says you’re great, but you’re not. ” I guessed. Of course, Tressel was speaking from experience, through the lens of what current coach Ryan Day and his family are experiencing every week in Columbus. “The next day they say you’re a terrible person, but you’re really not.”
“These things happen when you’re the head coach at Ohio State,” defensive back Denzel Burke said. “We’re the most hated show, but we’re the most loved show.”
Yes, sometimes during the same holiday season.
It goes even deeper. Gene Smith is the now-retired AD who promoted Day, a young offensive coordinator with no head coaching experience, after Urban Meyer’s tumultuous final days. Day entered his first full season in 2019 and has appeared in four of his six seasons in the CFP, posting a career record of 70 wins and 10 losses.
Later on the field, Smith explained his reasoning while taking a veiled shot at Meyer.
“This is a great program with a great culture and good kids. That’s not always the case with us,” Smith said. “I don’t see these kids causing trouble. They don’t read books about police anymore. It’s over…”
“(Day) had a high soccer IQ. … He really cares about the players. We needed that.”
Among FBS coaches with at least 50 games, Day currently ranks second in winning percentage behind Knute Rockne. If he wanted, he could have stayed in Columbus and built an empire.
Ryan Day returns Ohio State to the top of college football. Now he’s going to call the NFL on his terms.
Dennis Dodd
There were many mentions of Big-name teams meet Tuesday after loss at Michigan. Team meetings take place all the time. This is a major change and reflects the thoughts of those in charge.
“I told him he’s a great leader. He’s built for that,” said Chip Kelly, who coached Day as offensive coordinator at the University of New Hampshire and is still on Day’s staff in that role. ” he said. “He’s been preparing for it all his life and there’s adversity he’s going to face. No one comes out of Scotland unscathed. But can you grow from it?”
“I said…the other day, ‘You lost that game to Team Up North, but it could be a tombstone, it could be a stepping stone. We changed the power relations to be seen in a different way.”
The different way was to let the University of Michigan loss sink in and realize that the Buckeyes could win a national championship without competing for a conference championship.
Still, Day is a man who puts up with things. You can tell by looking at his personality. That’s how he is. The heartbreak didn’t start with the Michigan game. I just kept doing it.
After the match, day I mentioned the CFP semi-finals here two years ago. The Buckeyes blew two big leads to Georgia. He lost his best receiver, Marvin Harrison Jr., to a lot of taunts and controversial hits by defenders who might have targeted him.
A 50-yard kick that would have won the game went wide to left.
Sometimes gravestones turn out to be stepping stones.
“I get it now,” Day said. “It all made sense. And here I am. I couldn’t feel any better.”