Ryan Day says not calling plays allows him to keep eyes up, 'take part in all the emotion'

Ohio State was up, 35-0, on Western Michigan in the third quarter last weekend. You wouldn’t have known by the way head coach Ryan Day was chewing out an official after forward progress was not ruled on a reception from sophomore wideout Brandon Inniss.

Instead of a four-yard gain, Inniss ended up with a one-yard loss. Day was livid — not at his second-year receiver, rather at the officiating crew.

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Day let the emotion pour out while Ohio State chief of staff Quinn Tempel tried to reel him in. Day wasn’t having it and continued to vent his frustration to the line judge. That passionate display went on through the next play, and some.

Day couldn’t have done that last year — or any of his first seven years on staff when he was calling plays for the Buckeyes.

“Well, when you have the calls, you got to call the next play, and you can’t get into [it],” Day said Tuesday. “But, yeah, I’m gonna fight for everything we have and fight for every possible inch. It doesn’t matter what the score is. That’s my job as the coach, because these players are counting on me to do that.

“But not having to call the plays has certainly allowed me more of that opportunity to be more involved in the game management, seeing the clock, communication in all three phases, encouraging the players and everything else.”

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One of the biggest storylines this offseason centered around Day handing off play-calling duties to his new offensive coordinator hires, first Bill O’Brien — before O’Brien took the BC head coaching job — and ultimately Chip Kelly.

Calling plays was Day’s calling card. His mastery of the play sheet helped him earn the promotion to full-time head coach after Urban Meyer retired from his post, and it played a big role in Day’s immediate success leading the Buckeyes.

But with sport’s changing landscape, and the subsequently increasing demands of a head coach, Day decided to take a step back. Doing so has allowed him to really take on the CEO role he wanted to have. That role gives Day the opportunity to shape shift.

When Tony Alford left to become the running backs coach at Michigan, Day coached the position group until he hired Carlos Locklyn. What’s more, Day made it a priority this offseason to get his hands on special teams, an area in which the Buckeyes notably struggled in 2023.

But now that the season’s started, Day is able to tap into more benefits from the change, one being his ability to keep his eyes up and “take part in all the emotion.”

“I think when you’re calling plays, it’s hard to be anything other than calm because you have to get your thoughts together,” Day said. “You have to get your next series of plays ready, your next third down calls. You have to communicate while the defense is out there on what just happened and make those corrections. … And then when the offense is out there, you’re calling the plays, you’re getting the personnel grouping in there.

“So there’s a lot going on right there. To get too much involved with everything else, it’s not that easy. When you’re not doing that, now I can just be myself and just chase everybody around, and I’ve enjoyed doing that. I’ve enjoyed being with the defense and being with the special teams and barking at everybody. But that’s typically how I am in practice. It’s just when you’re in a game, it’s a little bit more difficult to do that.”

Day no longer has to do mental gymnastics play-to-play quite like he used to. He can lock in on the moment with all three phases and go to bat for his players even more than before.