Ryan Day’s place on the ‘hot seat’ among college football’s biggest misconceptions

Ryan Day is on the “hot seat,” according to some fans and pundits out there but it’s one of the biggest misconceptions in college football.

It might be the biggest, according to On3’s J.D. PicKell. Despite Day’s success at Ohio State, no national title and back-to-back losses to Michigan put him in the crosshairs of immense criticism.

But just because there’s been a few slipups, doesn’t mean Day should be in danger of losing his job.

“I think, probably, the loudest (misconception) is that Ryan Day is somehow on the hot seat,” PicKell said on The Hard Count. “Two things can be true here. One, it’s not okay to lose to Michigan. If you’re the head coach at Ohio State, never okay, never acceptable. He came on this very show and told us the exact same thing. The standard is the standard. Beat your rival. He did not say Michigan, he said your rival which implies Michigan, but credit to coach Day for not even saying the word Michigan. 

“Win the Big Ten, win the natty, that’s the standard No ifs ands or buts about it. So no, never okay to lose to Michigan.”

The track record says it all, Day is one of the top coaches in the sport at the moment.

“The other thing though, that could be true and I believe that is true, Ryan Day is one of the best head coaches in college football, has a record of 45-6 and some people are murmuring,” PicKell said. “Well if Ohio State doesn’t win a national title or if they lose to Michigan again, well maybe his seat heats up a little bit. Maybe Ohio State looks somewhere else. No, no, no, no, no, no. If you were to look somewhere else outside of Ryan Day, where would you look? Where would you look, short of Urban Meyer, who is someone that is accessible for Ohio State to hire and make their head coach?”

Day proved it on and off the field. He’s the right man for Ohio State.

“Ryan Day’s recruiting at a high level,” PicKell said. “Ohio State has an extremely talented roster. Just because they haven’t got it done, doesn’t mean he still isn’t a phenomenal head football coach, doesn’t mean he’s not still the right guy at Ohio State. They were a field goal kick away from sending Georgia home. We all saw Georgia in the national title game, like Ohio State is in a good position. It’s never okay to lose to Michigan, but Ryan Day’s seat in no way shape or form should be hot.”

Recently another coach, Kirby Smart, got over the hump. The Georgia head coach won back-to-back national titles and is in position to win a third.

“A lot of things are a lot of people are saying things about Ryan Day and his ability to get over the hump of winning a national title,” PicKell said. “They were saying the same thing about Kirby Smart at virtually the same point in his career as a head coach at Georgia. Remember, he lost to Alabama and they weren’t able to get over the hump of winning a national title and they were saying things about how he couldn’t develop a quarterback and now Kirby Smart, two national title rings later, is on the hunt for his third in a row. 

That’s no guarantee for Day, but it’s a nice blueprint from another highly successful coach.

“I’m not saying the same story with Ryan Day, but I just want to make sure we’re all on the same page here,” PicKell said. “Just because he hasn’t done it yet, does not mean that Ryan Day is still not capable of winning the national title. Doesn’t mean he’s still not the guy you want and potentially could even need Ohio State for the future. So Ryan Day absolutely not on the hot seat at Ohio State.”