Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer has said in the past that he asks his assistants for at least a 2-year commitment to the program. Thanks to the new 3-year deal signed last month by offensive coordinator Ryan Day, they could be getting even more than that down the road.
Day’s first season at OSU last year was very positive. He helped J.T. Barrett produce arguably the best season for a QB in Ohio State football history. Barrett’s 3,053 yards were the third-most in a season at OSU, and his 35 touchdown passes bested his own school record by one.
Barrett completed 64.7% of his passes, which was higher than he did in 2014 (64.6%), and also higher than the two quarterbacks who threw for more yards in a season than he did (Joe Germaine, 59.9%; Bobby Hoying, 61.9%).
After two seasons in a QB haze, Barrett finally returned to the player he was as a redshirt freshman. In other words, he got better under Day’s tutelage, and he’s not alone.
Every quarterback on Ohio State’s roster has spoken of Day’s impact on their individual improvements.
“He’s taken all of our games, J.T., Dwayne, and me, and Tate to the next level,” said fourth-year junior Joe Burrow. “With his knowledge from the NFL and his knowledge from college as well, he’s really bumped our play up.”
Day’s production and influence on the improvement of the Ohio State quarterbacks are why it was so important for him to remain as an Ohio State football coach. For a while, that was looking like it may not happen. Day had opportunities to pursue head coaching jobs in college, as well as assistant coaching positions in the NFL.
In the end, however, he said no to all of it in order to stay at Ohio State. Why?
“We love Ohio State,” he said. “This place is unlike any other place. Great players. The same reason all the guys came back, our receivers, our running back, our left tackle. They all came back because this is a great place.”
What makes it so great?
“It’s a great place to work, we’ve got a great group of quarterbacks to work with here,” he said. “My family loves Columbus. It’s the best place to work in America and I really believe that. So my family loves it here and I love it here.”
The coaching profession is populated by families not permitted to grow roots. From one job to the next, they sway in the breeze until they find the place where they want those roots to take hold. Day’s future is as a head coach, so how much longer he’ll be at Ohio State isn’t known. What is known, however, is that he is here in 2018 and there was more than one reason for his return.
“I came here to win a national championship and every time we’re here, you see the banners, we talk about it every day with Coach. So there’s unfinished business and I haven’t won a national championship,” he said.
“There’s only so many places in America that you can get to [a championship]. Growing up that’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to get to a place to win a national championship. I’m here, so now I’m going to leave? No, I’m not doing that.”