Ryan Day explains reasoning for game day attire

Ryan Day’s game day attire at Ohio State is simple. He wears black polo — typically with gray pants — and tops off his weekly look with a black baseball cap.

It’s a pretty similar outfit week after week, and during his radio show this week, a fan asked him if that was a superstition. The answer to that is kind of complicated.

“In 2018, the first game that I was the head coach for, Oregon State, I wore what they put in my locker,” Day said. “Did the same thing for the Rutgers game, and then we played TCU … I had a red hat on and I walked out of the locker room into the main area, and a bunch of people said, ‘Whoa, whoa, what are you doing?’ I said, ‘What do you mean?’ They said, ‘Where’s your black hat?’ I said, ‘I’m just wearing this hat.’ They said, ‘No, no. You’ve got to wear your black hat.’

“And from then on, that was it. That was it.”

CLICK HERE to subscribe for FREE to the On3 YouTube channel

But after thinking about it more, Day turned to — where else? — the internet and found some interesting information. A legendary Ohio State coach also wore a black hat on the sidelines, meaning he’s in good company with his fashion choice.

“Woody Hayes wore that black hat, too, with the block ‘O,'” Day said. “A little different than the one that I wear. But that kind of happened naturally … but also, I think it’s kind of neat that Woody wore it back in the day. I wear it now during the games.”

If the hat was the secret, it worked out well for Hayes, who finished his time in Columbus with 238 career wins and five national championships. Day’s been on a good track since taking over for Urban Meyer in 2019, as well, bringing a a 40-4 career record into Ohio State’s bye week this week.