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Ryan Day ranked as second-best coach in college football by CBS Sports

Spencer-Holbrookby:Spencer Holbrook•05/22/25•

SpencerHolbrook

Ryan Day
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

COLUMBUS — Ohio State coach Ryan Day finally shook off some doubts this past winter, winning his first national championship — the program’s ninth. Day is the third consecutive permanent Buckeyes head coach to win a championship.

Because he joined just two other active head coaches with national title rings, Day is garnering more attention as one of the most elite coaches in the sport.

In fact, CBS Sports and its panel of voters ranked him as the No. 2 coach in college football on Thursday. He’s behind only Georgia’s Kirby Smart. Day is ahead of Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, who has two national championships with the Tigers but is 1-1 in head-to-head matchups against Day.

Here’s what CBS Sports said about Day:

Ryan Day finished second in our rankings last season despite losing to Michigan again, but a lot of it was due to Nick Saban and Jim Harbaugh leaving the sport. Now Day has a national title to his name, but it wasn’t enough to vault him to the top spot. Perhaps a second would do the trick? Either way, what is there to say? While he needs to get the Michigan Monkey off his back, Day is 70-10 at Ohio State, and nobody expects this program to drop off any time soon. He’s never lost more than two games in a season!

– CBS Sports

Of course, Day is 0-1 against Smart, who is the top coach in the sport. Smart beat Day and Ohio State in the 2022 Peach Bowl semifinal of the College Football Playoff by one point and went on to win the national title. Ohio State would have likely won the title game had it slipped past the Bulldogs that season.

But Day’s overall record of 70-10, his 5-3 College Football Playoff record and his national championship ring make him among the very best in the sport. The only blemish on his resume is the 1-4 record against rival Michigan, including a stunning upset loss at home to the Wolverines this past season.

That’s why the folks at CBS Sports put him as the second-best coach in the country.

If he wins a second national title to tie Smart and Swinney, Ryan Day could even find himself in that top spot at some point down the road.

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