The aggressive version of Ryan Day Ohio State saw against Georgia is back, but not how you think
The aggressive version of Ryan Day Ohio State saw against Georgia is back, but not how you think
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Two years ago Ryan Day showed a side of himself that most people hadn’t had the chance
to see publicly in Ohio State’s Peach Bowl loss to Georgia and we’ve been waiting to see it again ever since.
That wait might be over.
When the Buckeyes backdoored their way into the 2022 College Football Playoff,
Day vowed to let it rip both in mentality and approach.
Then he backed those words up with how C.J. Stroud played,
the way he called the game as a play-caller and the way he reacted to everything.
He showed a level of aggression so raw that it reset how a fan base irritated by two straight Michigan losses viewed him.
Then they spent all of last year wondering why that guy didn’t stay instead of bringing back
the guy who made some questionably conservative decisions in big games.
That’s what happens when you’re trying to wear two hats simultaneously.
You can’t be emotional and celebrate when you’re busy worrying about what play you’re gonna call next.
“When you’re calling plays it’s hard to be anything other than calm,” Day said.
“You have to get your thoughts together. You have to get your next series of plays ready — your next third-down call.
You have to communicate while the defense is out there on what just happened and make those corrections.
There’s a lot going on during that time. So to get too much involved with everything else it’s not that easy.”
Day made a pivotal decision this offseason by hiring an offensive coordinator and giving up playcalling.
He’s seen the value in that decision all offseason but now that the season is here, he can really see why he needed to do it.
Two games in and it’s already producing positive results because he is everywhere and more demonstrative than he’s ever been.
“Now I can just be myself and chase everybody around (and) I’ve enjoyed doing that,” Day said.
“Being with the defense and being with the special teams and barking at everybody.
But that’s typically how I am in practice it’s just when you’re in a game it’s a little more difficult to do that.”
Day is clearly handling some things differently in games and OSU’s 56-0 win over Western Michigan is filled with examples of that,
two of which showed up on the same drive.
The first followed a first-down completion from Will Howard to Brandon Inniss who’d caught it five yards up
the field but ended up losing a yard thanks to being pushed back by a fury of defenders.
Day wanted those yards back fighting for forward progress.
Typically he would’ve just said his peace then moved on because he needed to figure out what he was going
to call on 2nd-and-11. But that’s not his job anymore. That’s Chip Kelly’s problem.
So now he spends the next two plays chewing out a sideline judge while play continues.
“I’m gonna fight for everything we have,” Day said. “Fight for every possible inch it doesn’t matter what the score is.
That’s my job as the coach because these players are counting on me to do that.
Not having to call the plays has certainly allowed me the opportunity to be more involved in the game management,
seeing the clock, communication on all three phases, encouraging the players and everything else.”
The other is on 4th-and-8 a few plays later. This game is already over.
OSU is up 35-0 in the middle of the third quarter against an overmatched Western Michigan team and
doesn’t have to push it if it doesn’t want to. But they should do it anyway because it’s not about Western Michigan.
“We were just trying to get more guys more plays,” Day said.
“There’s a lot of guys on our team who deserve plays.
It’s not always an easy situation when you’re up by that kind of score.
We totally respect our opponents and respect Coach (Lance Taylor) and the whole team at Western Michigan.
But we also need to get these guys plays because it’s so important down the road.”
In the past maybe Day wouldn’t have done that. He would’ve thought about the players and coaches
on the other sideline and chosen not to run up the score out of respect for an opponent who
even he admitted had his team’s attention after the Broncos had made their season-opener
against Wisconsin a four-quarter game.
But this was also about what his team needed. It wasn’t the time to take the foot off the gas and
call it a day because things already looked decided. It was the time to continue pushing forward
and making sure you maximized every snap because that’ll matter more later down the thing.
If that meant a lop-sided final score, so be it.
“We try to be respectful, there’s no question about that,” Day said.
“But we also have to let our guys learn and make mistakes because as we know down the road
we’re gonna need thee guys in the game. The only way to figure it out is to get them in the game.
We wanted to get the guys the reps. We said we were gonna do that this year.”
Day has turned up the heat on his aggression this season. He’s demonstrative on the field yelling at his players,
coaches and even the refs. He’s letting his emotions fly when the moment calls for it and seeing a different side
of a college football game than he’s seen in a long time.
It’s yet another thing added to the ever-growing list of reasons why it was so important that he gave up the
thing that was most important to him in his career.
No doubt at his best he was among the nation’s best play-callers with plenty of quality examples
other than just a loss to Georgia. But the sport changed and he couldn’t be at his best anymore because of it.
His best was replaced with something less than that and it hurt his offense in the long run.
The good thing is he originally gave control of his offense to Bill O’Brien,
who’s spent the first three weeks of the season showing even now as Boston College’s head coach that
OSU would’ve been in good hands had he not left. But his departure let Day bring in Kelly,
who he trusts more than probably anyone in the sport and was over the burden of being a head coach.
Day’s offensive mind may have been among the top reasons for why Gene Smith made him Ohio State’s next head coach.
But maximizing the higher required Day to evolve into something more.
Two games in we’ve seen the early signs of what that looks like.
The version of Day that emotionally marched the sidelines at the end of the 2022 season looks like he’s back at full throttle.
And giving up playcalling is what finally unleashed him.
I have enjoyed that part of it so far so we’ll just keep growing from it,” Day said.
“But it does allow me to have the opportunity to have my eyes up and involved with everybody and take part in the emotion.”
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