Is Ryan Day too normal to be a dominant head coach, or is he perfect for the new era of college football?

COLUMBUS, Ohio — It was one of those bar debates that started as a joke, and then, as Michigan accrued more wins against Ohio State, became a more serious question.

Is Ryan Day enough of a psychopath to succeed at Ohio State?

• Day succeeded Urban Meyer, who won two national titles at Florida and one at Ohio State and who — unlike Day — would never be described as a “chill dad.” 

• Day got knocked out of the College Football Playoff in his first season as Ohio State’s head coach by Clemson’s Dabo Swinney, who has won two national titles and once was described thusly by former Alabama tailback Shaun Alexander. “We’re going to smile, but we’re going to murder you,” Alexander once said of his former position coach to writer Larry Williams.

• Day lost the national title game following the 2020 season to Nick Saban, who as a coach planned every minute of the succeeding 18 months and adhered to such a regimented process every second of every day that he became the greatest college football coach of all time.

• Day lost the 2021 Peach Bowl College Football Playoff semifinal to Kirby Smart who, well, just listen to Smart’s pre-game speech from the game after his Georgia team beat Ohio State. (If you don’t like cuss words, DO NOT click this.)

• Day lost three consecutive games to Jim Harbaugh Michigan teams, the last of which was coached by Sherrone Moore because Harbaugh was suspended. Harbaugh has slept over at a recruit’s house and climbed a tree at the house of another. He has called chickens “nervous birds” but then recanted once he began raising chickens. He idolizes Judge Judy. He orders cheeseburgers for breakfast. Nothing about the man is normal.

Day? He seems like the dude you’d bump into at the PTA meeting who would invite you over for brats and beers on an offseason Saturday. Is he built for a job that demands perfection every season?

We’re about to find out.

We’re also about to find out if Day is better suited for the next era of college football than the coaches who have tormented him since his hiring.

Remember, we’re talking about someone who is 58-8 in five-plus seasons as a head coach like he’s an unknown commodity because he coaches at Ohio State. Forget failure, the most recession-proof program in college football doesn’t even accept pretty good. The Buckeyes have to be excellent every year, but they especially have to be excellent this year. Talented, experienced players put off the NFL for a year to win a national title. Ohio State’s collective paid top dollar for some of the best transfers money could buy — luxury items such as Caleb Downs (the game’s best safety) and Quinshon Judkins (the tailback who made Ole Miss say “too rich for our blood”). Day has to beat Michigan. And if he doesn’t win a national title, it had better be because a meteor hit the field just as freshman Jeremiah Smith was about to score the winning touchdown in the season’s final game.

Day understands this better than anyone. I asked him this week if the pressure has changed since he was hired. 

“No,” he said. “It hasn’t changed. I remember that [first] press conference. It was like, you’ve got to beat the Team Up North. You’ve got to win every game after that. That’s the job.”

He gets it. But can he do the job to the satisfaction of the people who wear scarlet and gray and who cross out every M they see? 

That is what we’re about to find out. Day is doing his job very differently this season because he has to, because the way he did it the first five seasons didn’t get the job done. He has ceded playcalling. He still isn’t quite sure what to do with his hands during games because he doesn’t hold a play sheet anymore, but he knows he has more time during the game to interact with his players and more time during the week to focus on third down or red zone or any roster management issues that could arise. 

The original plan was for Bill O’Brien to call the plays, but when former Day co-worker Jeff Hafley ditched the Boston College head-coaching job to become the defensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers, O’Brien became the Eagles’ coach. So Day hired someone even better suited for the role: His old college coach. Chip Kelly had grown tired of being a head coach in the transfer portal and NIL era. He wanted to concentrate on football. Day needed a playcaller he trusted to make the correct choices. So who better than the guy who taught Day how to call plays?

“That’s what’s great about Chip,” Day said. “You talk about trust. You can have an argument. You can challenge each other. But at the end of the day, you’re going to have each other’s back when you walk out of the room. Sometimes, when you don’t have that kind of trust and that relationships, it can create issues and problems. Not here.”

How did Day reach the conclusion that he needed more help?

“I’m now 45 years old,” he said, “and I’m in a different place than I was a few years ago.”

That’s still incredibly young for a head coach at a Tiffany program, but because Ohio State is never allowed to drop off, Day gets no grace. Georgia’s Smart won his first national title in year six at age 46. According to Ohio State fans sick of losing to Michigan, Day had better win his first national title in year six at 45.

But what’s interesting about the new dynamic is that the things that drove Kelly away from being a college head coach are the things that Day — at least theoretically — should excel at. He’s always been a tenacious recruiter, but his evaluation skills and his demeanor should help with making sure Ohio State retains the correct players. Remember, though Downs and Judkins and starting quarterback Will Howard are headliners, Ohio State only took nine transfers. The bulk of the players in the two-deep were recruited out of high school and retained despite interest from other schools and/or a chance to go to the NFL. 

Day seems like a coach players would enjoy playing for, and that feels important in an era when a player can be a free agent at basically any point. Yes, Ohio State and its collective have the resources to retain and attract top talent, but those players have to want to stay there or go there. They all have other options, and there are a number of highly resourced programs.

Day feels like the prototypical coach for the next era of college football, but that only works if he can satisfy the requirements of the position he currently holds.

Beat The Team Up North.

Win every game after that.

That’s the job.

Time to prove it.