Ohio State’s head football coach, Ryan Day, has had a very interesting first five seasons as the Buckeyes head coach. Day took over for legendary coach Urban Meyer and started strong. He made the College Football Playoff in his first two seasons and went to a National Championship in year two, losing to Alabama.
Ryan Day Has Fallen Short Of His Goals
The last three years for Day have been a rollercoaster. He has not beaten his rival Michigan and failed to reach the playoffs two out of the three years, but Ohio State almost knocked off Georgia in the semi-final in 2022.
Day went wild this offseason in the transfer portal, bringing back his players. Ohio State got Kansas State quarterback Will Howard, Ole Miss running back Quinton Judkins, and the best player in the entire portal: Alabama’s safety Caleb Downs.
Bruce Feldman from The Athletic ranked his Top-25 head coaches heading into 2024, and Day came in at number five on the list.
Should Day Be In The Top-Five?
Georgia’s Kirby Smart, Clemson’s Dabo Swinney, Kansas’s Lance Leipold, and Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer were coaches who ranked ahead of him.
Day was ahead of guys like LSU’s Brian Kelly, Penn State’s James Franklin, USC’s Lincoln Riley, Florida State’s Mike Norvell, and Utah’s Kyle Whittingham.
Day has always been one of college football’s best offensive minds, and there is no arguing that. Many people were critical of Day’s play calling and even decided to give it up to new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly this season.
The 44-year-old head coach has not been able to get over the Michigan hump the past three seasons, and that is a reason why people have looked so down on Day in recent years.
Here is the thing: Michigan has been a great football team over the last three years. They made the playoffs every single one of those seasons and won the National Championship two months ago.
Losing to a great Michigan team shouldn’t be shameful. Still, when you coach Ohio State, you are expected to beat Michigan every year. Even though Michigan has only lost three games over the past three seasons, people still want to destroy Day for being unable to defeat them.
Day Has To Strike Now
Coaches like Day can jump into the top three with Nick Saban and Jim Harbaugh out of college football. Kirby Smart is number one, and you can’t deny that. Dabo Swinney is number two because he has won two titles, but he hasn’t been able to make the playoffs in the last three years.
Day has to be able to take advantage this season with his loaded roster, Harbaugh leaving Michigan, and teams like Oregon, Washington, USC, and UCLA joining the Big Ten for the first season and having to adapt to the new style of football.
I’m not saying Day will get fired if he doesn’t win the championship this season, but he sure went out this offseason and did everything in his power to ensure he is holding a trophy at the end of the season.