Ryan Day admits pressure of winning at Ohio State is 'worth a lot of conversation'

It’s not exactly a secret the amount of pressure that Ohio State coach Ryan Day has been under in recent months, particularly following a regular-season-ending loss to rival Michigan.

That loss was the program’s fourth straight in the rivalry series and put a damper on an otherwise fantastic campaign.

Until it didn’t.

Now the Buckeyes are on the doorstep of a national championship, set to square off against Notre Dame after dispatching two SEC teams and the top-seeded team in the College Football Playoff. Ryan Day was asked about that pressure this week and naturally he isn’t paying it too much mind.

“To think too much about that right now is kind of over here,” Day said. “And I’m with you, I think you’re dead on. I think it’s worth a lot of conversation. I think when you start to get into that, though, as a coach or as a player it can be a distraction.”

Ohio State needs no distractions ahead of its tilt with Notre Dame. The Buckeyes will enter as a 9.5-point favorite and have the clear edge in talent on paper.

It’s the intangible stuff that might get the team in trouble.

“One of the things we’re trying to do this week is eliminate all the distractions,” Day said. “What’s happened in the past doesn’t matter. What’s happening moving forward doesn’t matter. All that matters is winning this game right now, and then we can kind of figure out what that is.”

Ryan Day opens up on the pressure

There’s a simple way that Ryan Day goes about combating the daily pressure you feel as the head coach at Ohio State.

“I think pressure, whatever you call it, the way that you continue to work during those moments is to focus on right now and focus on your job and focus on what’s in front of you, because the rest of it doesn’t matter,” Day explained. “And that’s kind of what I’m going to focus on right now.”

That’s not to say the pressure doesn’t exist. It most certainly does.

It’s only so useful to think about it on a daily basis, though. Ryan Day sounded like he might open up more on the topic after the season, which would be quite fascinating.

“I do think that there’s great conversation to be had about that down the road, and what comes with it, because it isn’t the same as a lot of other places,” Day said. “It’s just different. But I’m proud of our guys and the way that we stuck together throughout the year. So now we’re just going to have a great day of practice, that’s it. And no distractions.”