With Urban Meyer now on paid administrative leave, Ryan Day is the new interim head coach of the Ohio State football program.
Day is a 39-year-old New Hampshire native, and graduated from the University of New Hampshire. He was a three-year starter at quarterback for the Wildcats under offensive coordinator Chip Kelly.
Day first worked for Meyer as a graduate assistant at Florida in 2005, and worked as an offensive position coach and coordinator from 2006-2014 at Temple and Boston College.
He jumped to the pros in 2015, taking a job as the quarterbacks coach for the Philadelphia Eagles under Kelly for one season.
When Kelly was fired and took the San Francisco 49ers job, Day went with him, and coached quarterbacks there for a year.
Day returned to the college game in 2017, taking over as co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Ohio State.
The Buckeyes averaged more than 500 yards per game in his first season, scoring 48 points or more in seven of 14 games. OSU led the conference in total offense, rushing, passing, and points per game.
Day is widely regarded as a brilliant offensive mind. He is also beloved by OSU’s quarterbacks.
This spring, before he transferred to LSU, Joe Burrow talked about what an impact Day had made on his play.
“He’s taken all of our games, J.T., Dwayne, and me, and Tate to the next level,” said Burrow. “With his knowledge from the NFL and his knowledge from college as well, he’s really bumped our play up.”
Around the same time, Martell talked about what a difference a year with Day had made for him.
“I actually know what I’m doing out there now instead of just using straight athletic ability out there,” Martell said. “I know all my checks now. I can go through and check any play.
“I know all the stuff which is a huge difference from last year. I was just going out there, half the time I’d guess what the signal was that I got in. It’s a lot better this year than it was last year.”
After the 2017 season, Meyer told reporters that Day had multiple opportunities to leave, including college head coaching jobs, and assistant positions with NFL teams.
To keep him in Columbus, OSU gave him a promotion, dropping the “co-” from his title and making him a full-fledged offensive coordinator. He also received a massive raise, from $400,000 to just over $1 million.
At the time, Day was viewed as an up-and-comer who could one day serve as Meyer’s successor.
Day talked openly about his goals for his time with the Buckeyes.
“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 (Meyer). So there’s unfinished business and I haven’t won a national championship,” Day 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.”
Unbelievable.
Two former head coaches on staff, one with pro-experince and they appoint guy who had to make an appointment to get into the head coaches office.
There still is amateurism in college sports. At this point it really doesn’t matter whether or not Meyer did anything wrong. It’a about the court of public opinion.
That’s just sad, but when you earn more money in a year than I earned in my whole 40 year working career, you don’t need the job, and you shouldn’t care much if you get fired. You’re already set for life.
Thanks to Meyers incompetence in bad weather, and slugfests, the big question will be, can the new guy beat Michigan State and Penn State in the same year. Under the Urban Meyer regime the answer was “not very often.” You have to give the new guy a chance, but, there were better options.
How other coaches respond will define the outcome. Probably all of them will be wondering where they will live next year. Can they find a way to focus on the job at hand and gel together behind one man of will they be selfish? Also will the team line up behind one man and really lead in their own right, or will they be thinking NFL…
Logan what the hell are you talking about? Great offensive Mind…that hasn’t been proven yet. QB Power Dive has been the play his QBs have run the most here.
Schiano was the clear choice. He is a proven successful college football coach. The man had Rutgers ranked No. 2 at one point…dont under estimate how phenomenal that was! He has NFL pedigree and can recruit and knows how to program build.
I’d be more than happy with Ryan Day as a HC full time. I think he’s got what it takes and he’s got a great offensive mind. Him coaching the offense and Alex Grinch coaching the defense make an awesome pair.