The strain on Ryan Day and Ohio State within the College Football Playoff

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State coach Ryan Day had his left hand on his hip and his proper arm round cornerback Jermaine Mathews Jr.

As the Ohio State band performed “Carmen Ohio” following one other loss to rival Michigan on Nov. 30, and the staff gathered — because it does after each dwelling sport — to sing alongside, Day glanced up on the scoreboard. Boos rained down from the Ohio Stadium crowd, drowning out the alma mater.

Suddenly, Mathews turned and sprinted towards midfield, the place the Wolverines had planted their flag. Day turned to see what was taking place however, as if frozen in shock, solely took a couple of steps and watched as gamers from each colleges clashed — a melee that lasted 5 minutes and left a college police officer hospitalized. Police lastly quashed the brawl, however solely after deploying pepper spray.

The loss and the ugly scene that adopted marked a low level for Day, Ohio State’s sixth-year coach, after a tenure that started with unbelievable promise. He received 42 of his first 46 video games with the Buckeyes as head coach, claiming two Big Ten championships and reaching the nationwide title sport in his second full season. Day nonetheless boasts a 66-10 general document. Only Urban Meyer, the person Day labored beneath and ultimately changed, has a greater successful share amongst Ohio State coaches who lasted three or extra seasons. But four consecutive losses to Michigan, no Big Ten titles since 2020 and no nationwide championships have ratcheted up the strain on Day and a staff Ohio State invested $20 million in to retain and improve this offseason.

But regardless of the worst lack of Day’s profession, Ohio State is not completed, having superior to the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff. The eighth-seeded Buckeyes will host No. 9 seed Tennessee within the first spherical Saturday night time (8 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN).

For Ohio State’s seniors, who will finish their careers with no win over Michigan or a Big Ten title, the upcoming CFP shall be their final alternative to depart with a real milestone.

Day’s future as Ohio State coach in 2025 and past has been a sweltering matter because the newest Michigan loss. First-year Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork, who didn’t rent Day, mentioned final week he is “completely” assured Day will return in 2025, no matter how the staff performs within the CFP.

“Coach Day is superior,” Bjork instructed 97.1 FM The Fan in Columbus. “He’s nice to work with. He completely will get it. He loves being a Buckeye. So we’ll help him on the highest stage.”

But earlier than the season, these near this system instructed ESPN that something wanting a win over Michigan or a deep run within the playoff might immediate Ohio State to think about a training change. Day can be owed greater than $38 million if fired, sources mentioned, an quantity that would finally make a change prohibitive.

Since that gorgeous 13-10 loss to the Wolverines, who got here to Columbus as three-touchdown underdogs, some vocal sections of the Buckeye fan base have been clamoring for Day’s firing — although he is 47-1 in opposition to Big Ten opponents aside from Michigan.

“You acquired the second winningest coach [by percentage] within the historical past of Ohio State, and you retain studying concerning the strain,” former Buckeyes athletic director Gene Smith instructed ESPN. “Well, that is what you signed up for. But this win-or-lose-your-job mentality is completely ridiculous.”

Whether it is ridiculous or actuality, Day enters the CFP with a heavier burden than every other coach. He leads a program the place expectations have been elevated for generations with out relenting and the place outcomes in opposition to Michigan overshadow nearly each different achievement (or demerit).

But due to the expanded CFP, he nonetheless has an opportunity to realize one thing even higher.

“We’re within the playoffs now. That sport is behind us,” Day mentioned this week. “The [result] is rarely going to alter, it is by no means going to alter right here at Ohio State. However, the playoffs have. The expanded playoffs have. … So all proper, we’re on this factor.”

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SMITH HAS EXPERIENCED strain factors across the faculty soccer map since he started enjoying line of defense for coach Ara Parseghian at Notre Dame in 1973. He later coached at Notre Dame earlier than main athletic departments at Eastern Michigan, Iowa State, Arizona State and Ohio State, the place he served as athletic director from 2005 till his retirement in July.

The angst across the Ohio State program is totally different, Smith mentioned, partly as a result of the strain there was in place for thus lengthy, with out relenting, due to the staff’s success. Since coach Woody Hayes got here to Ohio State in February 1951, the Buckeyes have grow to be one of the persistently elite groups in all of American sports activities.

Since 1951, Ohio State has received 78% % of its video games, which leads the FBS. The Buckeyes have had solely three shedding common seasons in the course of the span, and none since 1988. Hayes led Ohio State to its first 10-0 season in 1954 and replicated the document in 1968 and 1973. Ohio State now has 32 seasons of 10 or extra wins, reaching double figures in 19 of the previous 22 years and 25 occasions general since 1993.

“It goes all the best way again to Woody,” Smith mentioned. “Ohio State is at all times within the hunt. You do not lose a number of video games in a season. It’s a special beast from that perspective as a result of it has been such a very long time of success, and dominant success. That’s the great thing about it. You need that.”

Ohio State stands out from its historic friends in faculty soccer — Alabama, Oklahoma, Georgia, Texas, USC, Notre Dame — due to the character of its rivalry sport. The Buckeyes have a convention rival that stands on equal historic footing, in contrast to Alabama (Auburn).

They additionally at all times play Michigan on the finish of the common season, usually with Big Ten title stakes on the road. The loser of The Game often sits with disappointment for a number of weeks earlier than getting again on the sphere. Oklahoma and Texas play one of many sport’s most intense rivalries, however the sport historically takes place in early to mid-October, lengthy earlier than convention and CFP races actually take form. USC and Notre Dame meet yearly however in a nonleague sport solely performed on the finish of the season when in Los Angeles.

In 2001, coach Jim Tressel’s first Ohio State staff misplaced 5 video games, greater than all however two of the earlier 34 Buckeyes editions. But Tressel completed the common season by main Ohio State to a street upset of the Tenth-ranked Wolverines, fulfilling the promise he made after being launched at a basketball sport earlier that yr.

“It was an fascinating actuality as a result of we have been 7-5, however we beat Michigan and everybody was blissful,” Tressel recalled. “I’m undecided we have been.”

While teaching Ohio State, Tressel would attend occasions with former gamers. They did not discuss what number of Big Ten championships that they had received or particular person awards or general data.

“They at all times needed to inform you what their document in opposition to Michigan was, if it was good,” Tressel mentioned. “And they needed to steer clear of that dialog if it wasn’t.”

The Michigan sport has at all times carried added significance for everybody in and across the Ohio State program. The Buckeyes’ dominance beneath Tressel, who went 9-1 in opposition to the Wolverines, and Urban Meyer, who went 7-0, enhanced the expectations — some would name it entitlement — to win The Game yearly.

From 2001 till 2019, Ohio State misplaced to Michigan solely twice, in 2004 and in 2011, the yr when Tressel was fired on Memorial Day amid an NCAA investigation, and the Buckeyes would end 6-7 beneath Luke Fickell. Ohio State has been on the improper finish of the rivalry earlier than. The Buckeyes received solely 3 times between 1985 and 2000 and went 0-5-1 between 1988 and 1993.

But some say the tenor across the sport has been amplified, particularly after final month’s fracas. A day after the most recent Michigan loss, Bjork needed to problem a press release to The Columbus Dispatch confirming Day would stay Ohio State’s coach by the playoff.

“The expectations have at all times been there,” Smith mentioned. “The factor that is modified lots is the narrative across the Michigan sport, and the win-or-bust kind of mentality. Ross Bjork made it clear that it is one of many challenges, and he is proper, the truth that individuals have platforms to specific themselves. The actuality is that the visceral kind of conduct has grow to be fairly difficult.”

According to a number of current research, together with one from AL.com and Samford University in 2023, Ohio State boasts the biggest fan base in faculty soccer. Within it are totally different subgroups.

“There’s followers and there is fanatics,” Tressel mentioned. “Fans are those that, when you do not do effectively, they form of really feel unhealthy with you, after which the fanatics are those that when you do not do effectively, they’re mad at you. And after all those which can be mad at you might be louder. The ones which can be dissatisfied, similar to you might be, aren’t on the web pounding out messages.”

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THOSE WHO HAVE coached at Ohio State aren’t blindsided by the weather there. Whether they’re from Ohio, like Tressel and Meyer; coming from applications outdoors of the state, like John Cooper; or getting promoted, like Day, all of them settle for the advantages and the expectations that include one of many highest-profile teaching jobs in sports activities.

“If you do not screw up, you are going to win many of the video games you play,” mentioned Cooper, who went 111-43-4 as Buckeyes coach from 1988 to 2000.

No coach goes to win all of them, although. Cooper led Ohio State to seven consecutive AP prime 20 finishes from 1992 to 1998, twice ending No. 2 and rating No. 6 in 1995. But after a 14-10 mark in his last two seasons, punctuated by poor data in opposition to Michigan (2-10-1) and in bowl video games (3-8), Cooper was fired.

“You stroll down the corridor and each coach right here at Ohio State — Woody, Earle [Bruce], me, Tress — all of us are within the College Football Hall of Fame,” Cooper mentioned. “All of us have been on the lookout for a brand new job, too.”

The distinction now, which Day has emphasised within the lead-up to the Tennessee playoff opener, is that the expanded CFP offers new life to coaches and groups that did not attain all of their objectives in the course of the common season.

“It’s a brand-new begin,” Day mentioned. “And I believe that is what our guys have acknowledged now, the truth that they’ve earned the chance to play within the playoffs.”

When teaching Ohio State, Cooper by no means thought of what a playoff can be like as a result of one did not exist. He would have cherished the chance in seasons like 1996, when a loss to Michigan at Ohio Stadium prevented the Buckeyes from overtaking Florida, which additionally misplaced that day to Florida State however received a rematch with the Seminoles within the Sugar Bowl to say the nationwide title.

The Buckeyes beat Arizona State within the Rose Bowl however completed No. 2.

“Heck yeah, you’d like to have one other shot,” Cooper mentioned.

Day landed the Ohio State job beneath uncommon circumstances. He had served because the staff’s appearing head coach for the primary three video games of the 2018 season, whereas Meyer was suspended, after which took over completely after Meyer retired for well being causes.

Although Smith cherished Day’s potential, he additionally acknowledged that Ohio State can be the 39-year-old’s first head teaching alternative. The college hadn’t employed a first-time head coach since Paul Bixler in 1946, though he had led basketball groups at Akron and Colgate. Bixler lasted just one season, stepping right down to take the identical job at Colgate, citing the strain he confronted at Ohio State.

“This is his first head job, so that you’re studying yearly,” Smith mentioned of Day. “We did not discuss it intimately, however I knew it in my head, and so I stored that in my perspective because the chief, attempting to assist him. I believe he is actually developed into an excellent head coach.”

Day has a listing of expertise to attract upon, together with a really related scenario in 2022 to the one he at the moment faces. That fall, Ohio State additionally misplaced to a short-handed Michigan staff as a favourite, at Ohio Stadium. The Buckeyes watched Michigan win a second straight Big Ten title. But then, Ohio State sneaked into the CFP as an at-large choice after USC fell to Utah within the Pac-12 championship sport.

“We felt defeated due to that sport,” mentioned Cleveland Browns security Ronnie Hickman, an All-Big Ten performer in 2022 for Ohio State, of the Michigan loss. “It meant a lot to us, however they [the CFP selection committee] gave us one other likelihood. So we realized that we might both sulk on this loss or benefit from the chance that we acquired.”

As Ohio State ready to play Georgia in a CFP semifinal, Day instructed ESPN then that the Michigan loss had left him “calloused,” however described the playoff as “a second lease on life.”

The Buckeyes responded with one among their finest video games beneath Day, displaying a newfound aggressiveness that helped them management many of the sport in opposition to Georgia. As a former Ohio State assistant mentioned, “We have been in assault mode.”

After throwing interceptions on Ohio State’s last two possessions in opposition to Michigan, quarterback C.J. Stroud rebounded with arguably the best efficiency of his faculty profession. Facing a loaded Georgia protection that will set a document with 5 gamers chosen within the first spherical of the 2023 NFL draft, Stroud handed for 348 yards and 4 touchdowns.

But a sequence of mishaps — officiating calls, large receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.’s concussion after a controversial hit ultimately zone, Day settling for a protracted subject aim try for the win — led to a 42-41 loss.

If Ohio State had held on, it could have been favored to beat TCU within the nationwide title sport.

“We ought to have received that sport,” Smith mentioned. “They cannot high-quality me now, however there have been a pair unhealthy calls in that sport, one which was atrocious. But you noticed the children and also you noticed the coaches put every thing into chasing the dream, and I used to be actually pleased with them. Because they may have folded, and so they did not. That’s the great thing about Ohio State.”

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THE PRESSURE THAT Day has endured has spilled over to his gamers.

Before the season, senior large receiver Emeka Egbuka bluntly described the legacies connected to him and different veterans, and their mission to alter how they are going to be remembered.

“Nobody on this staff has received an enormous sport of their profession at Ohio State,” he mentioned. “We simply have not finished it. It sucks to say, however that is the fact. We do not actually have something that counts, something that issues. … We’re actually locked in on attending to our objectives this yr.”

After the Michigan loss in 2022, Stroud stood earlier than reporters and admitted that he can be remembered as a participant who by no means beat Michigan or received the Big Ten. “I simply should eat it, man,” he mentioned then.

“Playing there is not simple,” Stroud, now a star for the Houston Texans, mentioned this week. “It’s quite a lot of strain, having a very large fan base — and the very best fan base within the land. But it isn’t simple. Honestly, it ready me for this place.”

Tight finish Cade Stover, Stroud’s teammate with the Texans and at Ohio State, added: “The quarterback at Ohio State could have probably the most strain of any place, any athlete within the nation. No query. … I do not assume it is even shut.”

Former Ohio State QB Kyle McCord was the No. 31 general recruit within the nation three years in the past and at last acquired his likelihood to begin final season after Stroud was chosen with the second decide within the draft. But after successful his first 11 video games, which included engineering a late game-winning drive at Notre Dame, McCord struggled in a loss to the Wolverines.

Michigan went on to the Big Ten title sport — and the nationwide championship — and McCord instructed ESPN’s Andrea Adelson that he was knowledgeable Ohio State would go in a special route at quarterback. Nine days after the Michigan sport, McCord entered the portal and ended up transferring to Syracuse.

“In an ideal world, we win, go undefeated, win the nationwide championship and I’m most likely not on this place, most likely not right here,” McCord instructed ESPN. “But every thing occurs for a cause.”

This yr, McCord led the FBS with 4,326 passing yards and helped the Orange to only their second nine-win season since 2001. In the regular-season finale, McCord propelled Syracuse to its largest comeback in program historical past, because the Orange rallied from 21 right down to stun sixth-ranked Miami. Afterward, McCord was requested about outdueling Heisman finalist Cam Ward on the identical day Ohio State scored simply 10 factors in its loss to Michigan.

“Everything comes full circle,” McCord answered with a smirk. Coach Fran Brown repeatedly mentioned he would ship Day champagne for letting the quarterback go.

A month after McCord entered the switch portal, the Buckeyes landed Will Howard, a coveted quarterback switch who had helped Kansas State to the 2022 Big 12 championship. Howard ranked within the prime 5 in QBR all yr and introduced an edge to the Buckeyes. After an emphatic rout of fifth-ranked Indiana the sport earlier than Michigan, Howard simulated stomping out a cigarette, trolling Hoosiers coach Curt Cignetti.

Yet in opposition to Michigan, Howard struggled. He tossed two interceptions, because the Buckeyes failed to attain within the second half for the primary time in 13 years. Afterward, all Howard might do was apologize for shedding The Game.

“It was onerous. I’m not going to lie. … It sucked,” Howard mentioned this week. “It was horrible for all of us. Terrible loss. But man, we will not let it beat us twice. We cannot.”

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CHIP KELLY HAS recognized Day since he recruited him to play quarterback at New Hampshire 26 years in the past. In February, Day recruited Kelly to depart his publish as UCLA’s head coach and grow to be his offensive coordinator. Day surrendered playcalling duties to Kelly with hopes it could give the Buckeyes a jolt offensively. Before he coached the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers within the NFL, Kelly turned Oregon into faculty soccer’s prime scoring offense.

But in opposition to Michigan, Kelly caught with an ineffective operating sport, whereas Jeremiah Smith, the Big Ten Freshman and Receiver of the Year, had just one catch for 3 yards on simply two targets after halftime, each within the third quarter.

Still, the brunt of the criticism fell on Day. As Michigan took a knee to finish the sport, “F— Ryan Day” chants got here pouring down from the Ohio State pupil part.

“He understands the burden of what this place is, being the top coach at Ohio State,” Kelly mentioned this week. “It’s totally different than most likely another locations. But I believe Ryan’s finished an important job with it. You at all times look to your chief and the way does the chief deal with it?”

Day mentioned they’re going to study from the Michigan loss, however they’re targeted on the playoff and Tennessee.

“We care lots, and we all know what it means to Ohio State to win soccer video games round right here,” he mentioned. “We perceive what that [Michigan] sport means. But finally that is behind us. … And we’ll play our tails off on Saturday night time.”

ESPN reporters DJ Bien-Aime and Daniel Oyefusi contributed to this story.