SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Ohio State entered this season with one big concern: Doubt surrounding the man who would be calling the shots.
They replaced Urban Meyer with a first-time head coach. It seemed crazy at the time. Now, it looks brilliant.
There was significant uncertainty about Ryan Day. He did well in three games filling in for Urban Meyer last season as an interim coach, an apprenticeship that showcased his coaching potential. But this was different. This was permanent. This was replacing a legend with a 40-year-old first-time head coach.
Quickly, it became apparent Day wasn’t just some wet-behind-the-ears, first-time coach. He was ready. That preseason question was answered in resounding fashion, with a perfect regular season and a third straight Big Ten title.
“The impressive thing is, it doesn’t seem like it’s his first time as the head man,” senior safety Jordan Fuller said at Fiesta Bowl media day, two days before No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 Clemson meet in the College Football Playoff.
The proof is in the production. Ohio State won all 13 of its games this year by at least 11 points. Day was able to close on transfer Justin Fields. He tailored his offense to the Heisman Trophy finalist who would account for 50 touchdowns and produce 3,424 total yards.
“That get changed [everything],” said Meyer, on hand as part of the Big Ten Network’s coverage of the game. “Nobody expected Dwayne Haskins to leave.
“I think [Justin’s] one of the best players I’ve ever seen and Ryan is the best quarterback coach I’ve ever seen.”
Fields put Day at the top of the list of reasons he came to Ohio State. He saw what he did for Haskins, who set Big Ten records in passing yards (4,831) and passing touchdowns (50), and how he had invigorated the Buckeyes offense in his first two years there.
“He knows how to fix the offense where his players’ strengths are,” Fields said.
From the time he took over, Day hasn’t tried to be Meyer, who stepped away after going 83-9 over seven seasons at Ohio State and winning a national championship. He hasn’t thought of the job as replacing the irreplaceable. That, he said, would be too much pressure.
He’s been himself, detail-oriented and demanding yet loose. A perfect example came this week in practice. He got behind a tackling pad, like he was challenging his offensive line. As soon as it was removed, the group playfully went after him, then lifted him high in the air. It looked like a scene out of “Rudy.”
“When it’s Christmas, you have to have some fun with them. They’re away from home,” Day said. “Especially some of the younger guys, their first time away from home for Christmas. We want to have a lot of fun and make sure they understand that this is their family away from home.”
A quarterback at New Hampshire, Day has been involved in coaching since 2002, serving as a QB coach with the Eagles and 49ers before joining Ohio State in 2017 as co-offensive coordinator. It’s interesting he will meet Clemson on Saturday, because it was the Tigers’ rout of Ohio State in the 2016 playoff that led to Meyer bringing Day aboard. He wanted to upgrade the offense and saw the young assistant coach as a solution. After one year, he knew Day had the tools to one day replace him and shared that insight with athletic director Gene Smith.
“When you find that diamond, don’t let that diamond leave,” Meyer said. “You knew after one year with him, he was elite.”
In between clichés about taking it a day at a time and crediting everyone but himself, Day acknowledged how wild the last 12 months have been, from taking over for Meyer to leading Ohio State back to the playoff and now preparing to meet the defending national champions. Whatever the expectations were for him in his first season, he’s shattered them.
“It’s been quite a year,” Day said.
And it isn’t over yet.
