Ryan Day explains how much he's motivated by losses to Michigan

There are very few programs as successful as Ohio State has been under Ryan Day. However, the Buckeyes have also struggled against rival Michigan and just had to watch the Wolverines win a national championship, adding to the pressure on Day.

Despite that, Day explained on The Joel Klatt Show that he’s not more motivated by Michigan’s success than he would be on any given season, even as he has worked to set the Buckeyes up for future success.

“I don’t think any year you’re more or less motivated,” Ryan Day said. “I think every year, every team is a little bit different. But, to say that those games haven’t stung — of course, they have. Those are bad weeks in Columbus when you don’t win that game.”

Ryan Day took over Ohio State in 2019, winning his first game against the Wolverines. At that point, Ohio State had won 15 out of 16 games over Michigan. Since then, however, it’s been three straight wins for Michigan as the two programs have seen their roles reverse. That culminated with Michigan winning a national championship in 2023.

“So, whether it’s the guys deciding to come back, whether it’s about make strong decisions in those moments, yeah, I can say you have to figure out what needs to get fixed to win that game,” Day said.

“That’s the bottom line and that’s what we did.”

This offseason, Ohio State underwent a major roster shake-up. Starting quarterback Kyle McCord transferred out and Ryan Day got busy in the portal to reload the roster. That included bringing in Will Howard at quarterback, Caleb Downs at defensive back, and Quinshon Judkins at running back among others.

Now, there are massive expectations in 2024 for Ryan Day to not only beat Michigan again but make a deep run in the College Football Playoff given how much talent is on the roster.

Ryan Day stresses process over result at Ohio State

One thing that Ryan Day has worked to emphasize is the value of a good process over the results for Ohio State.

“If the focus is on the result? Not good. It has to be on the process. It has to be on your habits. In matchup games down the road, in the playoffs, in the rivalry game? Like, if we’re not at our best in these areas, if we’re not getting better at our fundamentals, if we’re not focusing on the process? It’s going to catch us,” Day said.

“Now, when you have young players who haven’t been through it before, it’s a lot harder than if they’ve been through it before and then not finish the way you want to finish. We’re counting on these leaders to be veteran enough to say, ‘Hey, man, we’ve got to focus on the habits and we’ve got to focus on the process – not on the outcomes of these games.'”