Ryan Day should leave Ohio State for the NFL after the national championship

On January 21, 2025By Littum

ATLANTA – Chip Kelly spoke about his friend last weekend almost 30 yearsthat underscores the importance of family to Ohio State coach Ryan Day.

“Every decision he makes,” said Kelly, Ohio State’s offensive coordinator, “revolves around his family.”

This is where we introduce Nina Day, Ryan Day’s wife of 19 years — and why the trainer with the highest active winning percentage should walk away from Ohio State after Monday night’s 34-23 win over Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff national championship game.

Get out and get away from the toxic Ohio State fan base – and all that comes with it. When a job starts to suck the joy out of life, it’s time to get out.

No matter how many tens of millions it pays out, or how intoxicating the thought of winning it all at the biggest, baddest program in college football. No matter how important it seems.

Because nothing matters more than the girl he met four decades ago in Manchester, New Hampshire, when they were both 6 ― and has since traveled life together, in one form or another, since those elementary school days.

If there was ever any doubt that Day could pull off the ultimate walk-off and leave Ohio State having won it all, consider Nina’s recent interview last week with WBNS-TV in Columbus — where she reflected on life since late November, after another loss to bitter rival Michigan.

When they had to put one armed guard outside the family home for protection.

“The weeks between the Michigan and (CFP) Tennessee game were brutal,” Nina told WBNS. “I was very upset about what happened to some of our players, my kids. It just wasn’t right.”

That’s when Nina explained a family ritual during the season, one that — more than anything else — underscores the seriousness of what the family has been dealing with since Ryan was named head coach in December 2018.

“Before he leaves (for games),” Nina said, “he says, ‘No matter what, we always have each other.'”

Walking off the field at Mercedes Benz Stadium, pushing through the crowd and protected by security, Day walked off the field to the tunnel and shook a triumphant fist to cheering Ohio State fans.

The same Ohio State fans who two months ago yelled, “F– you, Ryan Day” at the wildly successful Buckeyes coach as he walked off the field at Ohio Stadium, another brutal loss to Michigan in tow.

“This game can take you to the highest of highs and the lowest of lows,” Day said after the confetti fell Monday night and the remarkable turnaround was complete.

Rarely have the tables turned so quickly, with so much at stake.

“It can bring you to your knees,” he added.

It can bring a family to breaking point.

Under no circumstances should the coach at any university leave his home, his safe solitude from high-level stress, and assure his family that – no matter what – they always have each other because some insane fanbase isn’t happy that Michigan has the upper hand in a rivalry.

Forget what Day said in November about the rivalry, how he compared the game to war. How there are victims and consequences for the loser.

It is a desperate man who throws a friend to a rabid fan base, a group of unreasonable and unapologetic fans who dole out the unthinkable to young men playing a game.

ONE gameall together.

The Day family has three children under the age of 16, three children who have clearly been influenced by the 24/7, 365 nonsense of “Ohio Against The World.” Or what a strange soliloquy the scarlet and gray mob is spouting these days.

This is the same fan base that once protected former coach Urban Meyer and his history of poor personal decisions at all costs. All because he was 7-0 vs. Team Up North.

Meanwhile, the wife of the coach who just lost a fourth straight to Xichigan (they refuse to use the “M” in Columbus) told WBNS that she had to see a therapist because of the absolute insanity surrounding the program .

And when Nina Day was done pouring her heart out on local TV – what coach’s wife in their right mind would publicly pour their heart out unless it had really hit a breaking point? – the bobblehead anchors on local Columbus television applauded her for her perseverance through “tough times.”

hard times? Hard times?! What world do we live in?

I have some advice for Ryan Day, 45, who serves 10 million dollars annually to be the caretaker of this zoo: leave.

Now.

Walk away with your pride, your dignity and the safety and security of your wife and family. Drop the mic after reaching the pinnacle of college football and walk away with no regrets.

He has a sporting director (Ross Bjork) who will fight for and with him, and he can name his salary. But is it really worth it?

What looked strange and bizarre at the end of the Michigan game now comes into focus. Day looked dazed and confused that day as he stood and watched his players battle Michigan players at midfield in the aftermath — and did nothing about it.

He must have imagined how bad things would go with the crazy fan base. The same fan base that nearly 15 years ago forced Kirk Herbstreit — ESPN’s college football analyst and a former Ohio State quarterback — to move his family from Columbus to Nashville to escape the madness.

A beloved alum, the definition of ambassador for the university and all it holds sacred, Herbstreit walked away because he feared for his family’s safety. Now Day, after winning the school’s first national title since 2014, was set to do the same.

Walk away and coach somewhere else, or don’t coach at all.

Take a job in the NFL, where he spent time with the Eagles (2015) and 49ers (2016) as a quarterbacks coach before arriving at Ohio State as Meyer’s offensive coordinator. Take off for the (mostly) sane professional process of the NFL, where the Saints, Cowboys, Jaguars, Raiders and Jets are looking for new direction.

Where the league that values the vertical passing game — Day has developed some of the best quarterbacks and receivers for the NFL draft — would embrace his elite track record.

A record that, prior to Ohio State’s 2023 season with first-year starting quarterback Kyle McCord, had produced quarterbacks who averaged 41 touchdown passes per game. season.

A record in which quarterbacks Dwayne Haskins, Justin Fields and CJ Stroud were selected in the first round, and wide receivers Terry McLaurin, Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Marvin Harrison Jr. joined the elite of the league.

More than anything, Day should walk away from the nonstop circus inside the Ohio State bubble. It’s not worth it mentally, physically and emotionally.

“When you go through hard times,” Nina Day told the Ohio State cheer squad at WBNS, “hold on to the ones you love.”

And you do what is right for them and protect them.

No matter what.

Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for the USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.