The Oregon Ducks have been able to enjoy a nice week away from football after winning the Big Ten Championship Game over the Penn State Nittany Lions earlier this month, earning the No. 1 overall seed in the College Football Playoff.
Because of that, they will now also enjoy another week off, with a first-round bye in the playoff. While Dan Lanning and the Ducks get down to business and prepare for their New Year’s Day game in the Rose Bowl on the field, it’s scouting time off of the field. Oregon will play either the Ohio State Buckeyes or Tennessee Volunteers in the quarterfinal game a couple of weeks from now, with a chance to move on to the semifinals.
While Lanning’s team prepares for their future opponent, we want to do the same.
Already this month, we’ve dived deep into the offense and defense for both the Buckeyes and the Volunteers, looking at players to know and what to expect going forward. This week we are going to continue that trend by looking at the man who is leading the charge.
Let’s start with Ohio State head coach Ryan Day.
The Current State of Ryan Day
Adam Cairns-The Columbus Dispatch
It feels safe to say that Ryan Day has had better stretches of his career.
While his Buckeyes are 10-2, and made it to the College Football Playoff, and will host a game in the first round, the past few weeks haven’t been brimming with success for Ohio State. At the end of November, Day had a major part to play in arguably the worst loss in program history — a fourth-straight defeat at the hands of the Michigan Wolverines, the Buckeyes’ biggest rival.
While the prior three losses to Michigan were understandable, with Jim Harbaugh leading the Wolverines to top-ranked finishes and a national championship in 2023, this defeat will act as a black spot on Day’s resume. The 2024 Wolverines finished the year unranked, with a 7-5 record.
Is Day coaching for his job in Columbus as the Buckeyes head into the playoffs? Some believe that’s the case, with anything less than a championship putting the head coach at risk.
Ryan Day History and Coaching Record
Day is a former quarterback at New Hampshire who got his start in the coaching world as a tight ends coach, working alongside former Oregon HC Chip Kelly. He ultimately became Kelly’s QB coach for the Philadelphia Eagles and the San Francisco 49ers before getting hired by Ohio State as the HC in 2019.
As a head coach, Day is 66-10, with only six regular-season losses on his record. Four of those losses have come against the Michigan Wolverines, while the other two have come at the hands of the Oregon Ducks.
What This Playoff Run Means for Ryan Day
As we alluded to earlier, there’s a decent chance that Ryan Day is coaching for his job during this postseason. While it seems crazy from an outside perspective to fire a coach who was gone 66-10 in seven seasons, an inability to win the biggest game on your schedule each and every year starts to become an issue.
Depending on how far the Buckeyes make it in the playoffs, you could argue that Ohio State may choose to cut ties with Day or keep him. The roster in Columbus is among the most expensive in the sport thanks to a healthy NIL budget, and it is among the most talented in the nation as well. Nobody would be surprised if Ohio State could make a run at the championship, but should that run stop short of a semifinals appearance, then it’s fair to question what could be in store for day.
