Ohio State head coach Ryan Day was certainly feeling the pressure this season. He had an extremely talented team on paper and the expectations in Columbus are always championship or bust.
That led some to believe that Day’s time in Columbus could be limited after a 10-2 regular season that saw the Buckeyes miss the Big Ten Championship game thanks to a 13-10 loss to the Michigan Wolverines at home. It was the fourth time in a row Michigan had beaten Day’s Buckeyes, and at Ohio State, that’s a cardinal sin.
There was a thought that Day had to win it all in the College Football Playoff or else he’d be fired. Now that he and the Buckeyes have won it all, though, Fox Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt revealed that he felt the hot seat narrative was “garbage” all along.
“Ryan Day is one of the great coaches in college football. I’ve said that for a long time. And I know that the narrative surrounding Ryan Day is always, ‘Oh, he’s coaching for his job.’ I think that’s garbage,” Klatt said on his show (h/t On3). “He’s one of the great coaches in the sport, and now one of three guys that have actually won the national championship that is currently coaching in college football — Kirby Smart, Dabo Sweeney, and now, Ryan Day — winning a national championship.”
Part of the pressure on Day is the standard at Ohio State. He met that standard this season thanks to a historic run through the first-ever 12-team CFP, but that will continue to be the standard next seaso and so on.
“Ryan Day is expected to win every single game he plays. … That’s just the standard, and anything below that, there’s speculation on his job,” Klatt said.
That’s just what it is at Ohio State, though Klatt clearly feels any hot seat talk is silly, and it was proven to be just that this past Monday night.
