This is part one of a four part series, where I, Mar’Quell Fripp-Owens, dive deep into one head coach from each of the Power Four conferences in College Football.
These are head coaches that I believe are under the most pressure heading into the upcoming season. I’ll discuss a few guys who are poised to follow in enormous foot steps, guys who have the weight of the world on their shoulders, and guys who have an opportunity to change the narrative surrounding them.
First up: Big 10.
Ryan Day, times yours.
Success is a matter of perception. Though it is defined as the accomplishment of an aim or a purpose, it’s ultimately the standard by which one is held to.
That standard of course varies based on the values of all parties involved.
Yet with success being mostly an opinionated category, there are some instances where the goals are simple and the tasks are clear. Anything less than what was required is viewed as a failure. Essentially, you either win or you lose.
And if you’re the head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes, you either beat The Team Up North or you didn’t.
The latter is something that current HC Ryan Day has struggled to do over the past three seasons. That leaves some to suspect that there at least a semblance of truth to former University of Michigan head coach, Jim Harbaugh’s infamous, ‘Third Base’ quote.
With all the noise surrounding Day and his team’s inability to beat their hated rivals, it’s almost easy to forget that he has an all-time record of 56-8 as a head coach.
Day’s .875 winning percentage is a mark that sits at second all-time in Buckeye history just behind Urban Meyer.
Not to mention a 39-3 record in Big Ten play, yet the only problem with this is that all three of those losses all came at the hands of — you guessed it, the University of Michigan (That Team Up North).
There was a point where Day’s name was one that lived in glory within Columbus, OH. Now with what are deemed to be unforgivable acts (losses to the Team Up North), you see a man who is a shadow of himself. A man who is arguably one loss in ‘The Game’ away from being mentioned in the same light of another man who will forever live in Ohio State infamy.
And rightfully so, it’s almost scary to see the some of the similarities between former Buckeye head coach, John Cooper and Ryan Day’s tenure dawning the Scarlet & Grey: through the roof expectations, boosted by outstanding recruiting efforts and teams that arguably could stake claims to being the best in the nation, at least on paper.
On the other hand, heartbreaking defeats, a sobering reality, and an unacceptable record against Michigan.
How Cooper managed to survive 10 losses (and a tie) to the vaunted enemy and survive to tell the tale is beyond me, but sometimes beating Penn State just isn’t good enough. In the end, he was fired because of an inability to beat Michigan.
This goes to show the level of scrutiny the program faced during this time. A level of scrutiny that has once again returned to the heart of the Buckeye state.
This poses the question, in what many consider to be a make-or-break season, what will Ryan Day do to save his legacy?
A Hall of Fame Head Coach once gave a great piece of advice about moments like these.
“You must turn a deaf ear toward naysayers. Any genuinely successful person will tell you to ignore the odds when they are stacked against you and go for it.”
The funniest thing about it is, that same Hall of Fame coach already hurt Ryan Day’s feelings because he publicly stated that his teams don’t win ‘these’ games because they just aren’t physical enough.
While Day was able to find a sense of accomplishment by topping Lou Holtz’ former squad, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, for the second time in as many seasons last year, it was merely putting a bandaid over a broken bone.
And it did almost nothing to silence the critics that followed.
Ultimately, Day had to face the man in the mirror and understand the possibility that Holtz was actually correct.
Years of heartbreak led us to this moment, specifically where Day must attempt to reinvent himself.
We’ve watched a quarterback whisperer be handed the keys to a Lamborghini and with this, he was able to do what was expected and even a little more. He even showed us a few things that we didn’t know this sports car was capable of (yes this is a Jim Knowles shoutout).
The thing about Lamborghini’s though, they are quite expensive to maintain and as they say in this modern day of college football: you have to pay to play. This is something the Buckeye boosters were finally willing to do.
This couldn’t be made any more clear by the level of activity the Ohio State program made this off-season with the additions of multiple key pieces along the roster and coaching staff.
Historically, Buckeye teams have typically been pretty good but this year?
This year something is different.
Could it be the expectations?
It’s possible.
After all, the team we’re talking is returning 65% of all production, including 68% for a defense that already ranked near the top of the country.
Could it be the hiring of Chip Kelly as the new offensive coordinator and play caller, who allows Day to ultimately step into the next facet of his career?
Not just as this brilliant offensive mind we know he’s capable of being, but to become the CEO of a football team.
“Maybe it isn’t exactly where I’m walking around on the field, but where I’m able to look, where my eyes are going, just thinking ahead of the message I want to give the team or maybe grabbing a guy on defense and giving a message to him. It just allows me to be more present with the whole operation, which is something that I recognize that I need to do.”
Ohio State Head Coach Ryan Day
Or is it possible that’s the temperature is raising within the pressure cooker that is Columbus, OH?
Could the seat of Ryan Day truly be warming up?
The only person who holds the answer to that would be newly hired athletic director Ross Bjork, who himself understands it’s not easy to find a guy to reach the levels of success that Day has reached.
However, as we stated to begin: success is only a matter of perception.
What we do know though, is that in this sport it all comes down to wins and losses.
Day has proven that he can be a winner by the numbers, but the full context tells an entirely different story.
Being 1-6 vs Top 5 ranked opponents and 1-7 in games either against Michigan or in the CFB Playoffs shows a man who is looking to remove the preverbal monkey off his back.
What is Ryan Day’s legacy? Has it been one of success or one of disappointment up to this point?
The question remains to be answered.
In what will be his biggest test to date, the 2024 season will play a pivotal role in the direction in which Ryan Day is remembered.
Cover Image Credit: Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
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