Ryan Day faces 'pass or fail' season at Ohio State amid smoldering hot seat speculation

Ohio State will enter this season as one of the heaviest favorites in all of college football. That makes 2024 a make or break kind of season for the Buckeyes and, more specifically, for Ryan Day.

Peter Burns, Harry Douglas, and Matt Barrie discussed the pressure on this upcoming year in Columbus during ‘Get Up’ on Friday. Simply put, Burns thinks there’s no gray area at all as far as the result of this season for Day. He and his team’s record are either going to ace it or going to flunk it in Burns’ opinion.

“Pass or fail, right? I mean that’s the only thing,” Burns said. “It’s thumbs up, thumbs down. It’s now or never.”

One of the biggest reasons for that is the investment put into this team for Ohio State. NIL has helped the Buckeyes retain and bring in big pieces out of the portal for an incredibly stacked roster entering 2024. With that, it’s now about ensuring that the cash out for everyone is as profitable as possible.

“You spend $10 million in NIL and probably even more than that? Those guys that spent that money? They want a return on their investment,” said Burns. “You don’t want to be the Mets who spend all that money and all of a sudden you end up being a disaster and a dumpster fire.”

To be clear, Day has a 56-8 (.875) overall record as a head coach through the last six years at Ohio State. That includes a mark of 46-7 in his four full seasons leading them. In that span, he has won three Big Ten Championships and made three appearances, with one national title outing, in the College Football Playoff.

Still, the past three seasons haven’t been up to the standard for the Buckeyes. Much of that has to do with three consecutive losses to Michigan in The Game. That has kept them from making any appearances in Indianapolis and earning any playoff berths besides sneaking in for the one in 2022.

Given the stakes, Day has as much heat on him as any college football coach period going into the Fall. That’s the scenario he finds himself in with the final outcome about him being nothing but black or white in the end for Burns.

“There’s no doubt that Ryan Day is under the most pressure of any coach in college football. I might say even any coach in football – NFL as well,” Burns said. “Day has to win this year. You cannot lose two games at Ohio State with this roster.”