Desmond Howard: 'The good folks in Ann Arbor, Michigan' don't want Ryan Day fired
Michigan Wolverines football has Ryan Day‘s number. And the number that haunts Ohio State fans is 1-4 — the head coach’s record against their hated rival to the north. The Buckeyes have lost four straight renditions of ‘The Game.’
Day is 66-10 as Ohio State’s head coach, but 1-4 against Michigan and only having one College Football Playoff victory are black marks on his résumé. That’s why this postseason are so important for Day, who has the full support of the administration, per Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork earlier this month.
The Buckeyes host Tennessee in the first round of the College Football Playoff Saturday night. And while Day’s job is safe according to Bjork, there’s a lot of pressure on the coach.
Appearing on ‘First Take’ with Stephen A. Smith and Cam Newton this week, former Michigan Heisman Trophy winner Desmond Howard, one of ESPN’s top analysts, discussed Day’s job security.
“Ryan Day, when you look at his contract, he’s one of the highest paid coaches in all of college football,” Howard said. “He knows what the expectations are that comes with that type of salary, and taking the head coaching job at Ohio State.
“Now, I know he’s won a lot of games, but he won a lot of games against teams who his roster was better than their roster. But when the rosters are evenly matched, then he has struggled, he has fallen short.
“We’re not even gonna talk about the Michigan games, because when you look at their roster compared to his roster, going into each of the four games he’s coached against Michigan that he’s lost, their roster was probably better than Michigan’s roster, as far as four-stars, five-stars.
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“The coach that won the AP Coach of the Year is a coach named Curt Cignetti. He coaches the Indiana Hoosiers. This is his first year coaching the Hoosiers. He won AP Coach of the Year with some JMU kids he brought along with him, and then some portal transfers.
“You’re looking at Ryan Day, who wasn’t even considered coach of the year in any of the four years he lost to Michigan, but especially now, despite the fact that they went out and got a $20 million roster. Now you’re talking about a coach who’s underperforming his roster.”
And then Howard dropped what is the depressing reality for Ohio State fans.
“I was in Ann Arbor two weeks ago, and all I can tell you is the good folks in Ann Arbor, Michigan, they do not want him to leave Columbus. So I’m not gonna sit up here and tell you, yeah, they need to get rid of Ryan Day. I’m not gonna tell you that they need to get rid of that man, at all!”
“That says it all,” Smith chimed in. “That says it all, that Michigan is rooting for him to stay.”
Ohio State finished the regular season 10-2, with losses to Oregon and Michigan. The Buckeyes missed out on the Big Ten championship game for the fourth straight season. They haven’t played in Indianapolis since the unique, shortened 2020 campaign.
Michigan was a 19.5-point underdog to the Buckeyes in Columbus, but pulled off a stunning upset, winning 13-10. Michigan hadn’t beaten Ohio State at Ohio Stadium since 2000 before winning two in a row in 2022 and 2024.
