Urban Meyer calls out 'idiots on social media' over past Ryan Day hate

Entering the College Football Playoff, pressure was mounting on Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day. That pressure largely came from Ohio State fans and media too, as he had just suffered a fourth loss to Michigan in a row.

Ryan Day responded to that pressure and went on to win the national championship. With that, he had established himself as a champion forever. That, along with the criticism Day had received, led Urban Meyer to call out people on social media for their criticism of Day during an episode of The Triple Option.

“I think this is what makes our podcast so compelling is you have Mark Ingram — one of the greatest players to play,” Urban Meyer said. “Heisman winner, national champion, leading rusher ever. Then, obviously, I coached a long time and a lot has been made of it and Coach Day and the pressures of coaching at a place like Ohio State. I made the comment that that’s not gonna change. The thing that has got to change and has changed is the idiots on social media that don’t sign their name to stuff.”

Following the loss to Michigan, Ryan Day was forced to hire security to guard his home. It was also reported that his children heard about the loss extensively in schools, which Meyer believes is taking things too far by fans.

“When you start involving families, you’re pushing it too far,” Meyer said. “Booing because you don’t get first downs and you lose to the rival, that’s part of the game. That’s all fair. But you’ve got to keep the families out of it.”

Urban Meyer, who both knows Ryan Day and the situation at Ohio State well, compared what he’s going through to something that Meyer went through at Florida. Fans can take things too far when losses occur and it can get scary at times.

“When I first [went] to Florida, you know they wanted [Steve] Spurrier. I’d want Spurrier too. He was a Heisman Trophy winner there, won the national championship,” Meyer said. “But it was Coach Spurrier went I think to the Redskins, he got fired and left. He was available. The contingency wanted him back and they hired me from Utah. I really didn’t understand the dynamic until I got there and I got there and I’ll never forget — he goes to South Carolina — we lose to South Carolina, which you don’t do that at Florida. I walk in to do my radio show on a Thursday, and I am the most miserable human being. I’m a stranger in a strange land down south there, and I come walking in and they boo me. I’m 7-2 I think at the time.”

Beyond just the crowd, Meyer was also taking radio calls. Those also got aggressive and at that point, he shared that there was an amount of fear he felt.

“I’m looking at this crowd and now your mind starts playing games. I’ve got young kids at home. I was never physically threatened — I want to make sure — but did I feel threatened in my own because I was out of my element and we were struggling. I remember, I had two police officers follow you around during games and all that. I was very close with one of them, and I would call and say, ‘I might need you. I don’t want anyone messing with this.'”

The attacks extended to his family too, with signs appearing at his daughter’s volleyball games. That brought the criticism to his family, similar to how Ryan Day and his family have been affected.

“So, your family gets very scarred and I don’t want to say in a negative way, but also I know this is hard to imagine, in somewhat a positive way. There’s not a closer family than our three children and Shelley and I. There’s not. Why? Because what does that do? It brings you that mentality to you — if you don’t have each other… Ohio State one situation,” Meyer said. “We never got the issues with the losing part but we got the issues with nutjob fans that would say things about my girls or something and we would have police come 24/7 around the house a few times just because you’re in the public eye.”

Now, like Urban Meyer, Ryan Day has a national championship of his own at Ohio State. With that, he has largely proven himself. However, it’s likely that some fans will continue to be critical of the coach.