Ryan Day Will Get ‘Best in America’ to Replace Jeff Hafley

A year ago at this time, not many Buckeye fans had ever heard the name Jeff Hafley, and those that had were probably Cleveland Browns fans who remembered him from his stint with their favorite NFL franchise back in 2014 and 2015.

Now, Hafley almost seems irreplaceable. He helped turn a below-average Ohio State defense into one of the best in America. With his departure, there is certainly a loss that will be felt and a huge void to fill. But he wasn’t alone in fixing this defense. Every Buckeye defensive coach had a hand in the improvements, as did the players, and as did head coach Ryan Day.

And as Day said on Monday, “Ohio State has been here a lot longer than Jeff Hafley.”

Nobody in the Big Ten will be weeping for the Buckeyes’ loss. Instead, they — and everyone else — will wait to see who Day hires to replace Hafley.

To this point, Ryan Day has yet to make a bad hire. In fact, it could be argued that every personnel move he has made so far has been excellent.

Day is looking to keep that streak alive with this next hire. If it can be done quickly, great. If not, then that is fine as well.

“It depends. I obviously want to do it as quickly as I can,” Day said on Monday. “We’re going to get the best in America because it’s Ohio State. I want to make sure we make the right decision for a lot of reasons. We’re going to get the best coach in America to go coach that position. That’s what’s great about Ohio State. We want to move quickly but be smart as well.”

With so many names being tossed around last year for Day’s coaching staff, Hafley’s name turned out to be one of the most surprising. But it also turned out to arguably the most productive.

Now Day will be doing what every prepared head coach does in this situation — he’s kept a list and he’s checking it twice.

“You always have a list, you always have people that you have ready,” he said. “In this world, you go to a place like Ohio State, you do well, things like this are going to happen. You can either go hire somebody that is going to be here for seven or eight years, or go hire the best in the country. We’re going to hire the best in the country.”

The point being that if Day hires somebody that is around for a long time, it’s likely because nobody else wants them. And if nobody else wants them, why should he?

Hiring the best coaches in America means that he is choosing to hire guys who may not be around long. If that’s the trade-off for having a great coach who produces great players which leads to great seasons, then Day will take it.

“I told the DBs last year at this time, I am going to go get the best guy in the country. They didn’t know who Jeff Hafley was, now they love him, they’re going to miss him,” he said.

“I’m going to do the same thing again next year, go get the best there is. You call around to different people that you respect. But usually the people you bring in are people that you know really well and you trust.”