Paul Finebaum wouldn't be surprised if Ryan Day is fired with another loss to Michigan, early CFP exit

It’s no secret SEC Network pundit and ESPN commentator Paul Finebaum isn’t Ryan Day’s biggest fan. Even before last season, Finebaum was sounding the alarm that a third straight loss to Michigan would put the Ohio State head coach on the hot seat.

Flash forward a year, during which the Buckeyes did in fact lose once more to the Wolverines, and Finebaum is speaking with more conviction about Day’s future.

“Interestingly, his biggest hurdle is Michigan,” Finebaum said Monday on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning,” “and that’s only because that game has been valued so highly because of three straight losses. If he beats Michigan and has a good run in the playoffs, maybe not a championship, I think most people move on.

“But if he loses to Michigan and then suffers an early loss in the playoffs, I wouldn’t be surprised if he got fired, in spite of his record.”

Day posted a 56-8 record in his first five seasons as head coach, including a 39-3 mark against Big Ten opponents. In other words, he hasn’t lost to a Big Ten team not named Michigan. That’s the biggest stain on his otherwise impressive resume: He’s only 1-3 against the Wolverines. Before 2021, Ohio State had won eight straight games in the rivalry, not to mention 17 of the last 19 iterations of The Game.

Fair or unfair, Day’s Michigan troubles often overshadow his body of work, which includes three College Football Playoff appearances, including a national runner-up finish in the 2020 season. His Buckeyes are one of only three programs nationally to make the CFP three times since 2019.

Finebaum isn’t interested in how those achievements stack up on paper.

“Again, it doesn’t matter,” Finebaum said Monday. “I mean, it’s like talking about three years from now, [Alabama head coach] Kalen DeBoer, ‘Man, he’s got a really good record, hasn’t won the championship, but he’s lost Auburn three straight times.’ I mean, at some point those things just don’t work. And Ryan Day, I think, is out of mulligans up there, assuming that he doesn’t have an amazing run.”

Regardless of where fans stand on Day’s job status, there’s no denying 2024 is a “natty or bust” season for Ohio State overall. Buckeyes players have openly confirmed that sentiment, anyway.

Ohio State returned 11 draft-eligible and starter-level players, notably most of a vaunted defense that ranked second nationally with only 11.2 points per game allowed last season. The Buckeyes also added a handful of difference-making transfers, namely quarterback Will Howard (Kansas State), running back Quinshon Judkins (Ole Miss) and safety Caleb Downs (Alabama).

The Buckeyes have the pieces to win it all in 2024.

But until that happens, or at least until Day beats Michigan again, Finebaum is going to have his reservations about Ohio State’s leading man.