Ryan Day opens up on his path to becoming Ohio State head coach

Ohio State coach Ryan Day has emerged as one of the best coaches in college football, and he says it’s because he grew up with a little bit of an chip on his shoulder and let that edge fuel his growth.

He delved into his backstory a little bit in an interview with Bussin’ With The Boys on the Barstool network.

“For me, if I didn’t lose my father at a young age, I don’t know if I’d be in the position I’m in right now because I just had that chip on my shoulder growing up and wanted to prove a lot of people wrong and wanted to prove a lot of people right,” Day said.

Day broke down one of the basic tenets of football as he sees it.

It’s rooted in the ability to deal with tough situations and grow from them, either in life or on the field.

“I think the first thing is like adversity are tests along the way and it can do one of three things,” Day said. “It can either crumble you, you can get through it or it can make you stronger. And adversity is coming somewhere along the way.

“I had someone speak to the team the other day and I thought it was really, really good what he said. He said, ‘Finding balance in your life is building high ground for hard times.’ It’s really cool, and the way you do that is by investing in your faith, family and friends. Adversity makes you stronger if you allow it to. So we’re all going to face adversity along the way.”

Now at Ohio State, Ryan Day said he was extremely grateful for was the mentors and teachers he’s had along the way. If people are a product of their environment, following the right people around can be key.

Day is a product of the Chip Kelly pipeline in the New Hampshire area.

“I had a lot of great mentors along the way, and I think that’s a big part of this profession is that you don’t really go to school to become a college football coach,” Day said.

“Now when I got recruited, Chip Kelly and I sat down and he said, ‘What do you want to do after you’re done playing?’ I studied business administration, but I told him I wanted to coach. He said, ‘Well I got you.’ And he did. I coached with him in the NFL, I coached with him in college. And the same thing with Urban Meyer, he took me along the way and certainly gave me an unbelievable opportunity here at Ohio State.”

Now that he’s established as one of the top coaches in college football, Day is laser focused on maintaining his position.

It’s not easy getting there, and getting to the top requires a lot of personal sacrifices. Ryan Day would prefer his family stay at Ohio State not have to endure those sacrifices again.

“I think a big part of this profession is apprenticeship, but there’s a lot of sacrifice that goes along the way,” he said. “And when you grow up in New Hampshire, a small state, you don’t have the privilege of going right to the front of the line. You have to move around a lot, and I did.

“My wife and I have had to move 11 times to even have an opportunity to be at a place like Ohio State. A big part of that is your family and kids being the new kid in class. That’s one of the reasons I fight so hard. There’s two reasons why. One, to win games here is to continue to have an impact on young people. And then, two, for my family, because I don’t want to have to move them again because I know what that’s like and that’s part of this profession.”