Top 5 rivalries between college football head coaches
2. Ryan Day (Ohio State) vs. Jim Harbaugh (Michigan)
The Michigan Wolverines and the Ohio State Buckeyes are bound to never respect each other in one of the most heated rivalries in all of college sports.
Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh continues to be one of the most unorthodox and wildest head coaches in football. Since Ryan Day took over as head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes, the rivalry with Michigan remains strong and so has the rivalry between the head coaches.
The rivalry intensified between Harbaugh and Day shortly before the 2020 College Football season. Harbaugh accused Day of breaking the rules with his team during a Big Ten coaches’ call.
Harbaugh showed a photo that was of Buckeyes’ assistant Al Washington on the field with his players shortly before the NCAA allowed on-the-field coaching later in the week. Day called out Harbaugh by telling him to worry about his own team and that Buckeyes were going to “hang 100” in the next meeting. Michigan won the next matchup 42-27.
Since then, the rivalry has been lighter, but each coach continues to throw jabs at each other. When elite Big Ten coaches and players were asked to comment on what they like from their rivals, Day refused to acknowledge Michigan.
We'll get this out of the way early in the week for @OhioStateFB and @UMichFootball fans 😬
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) November 24, 2021
We asked @CoachJim4UM, @aidanhutch97 and @ryandaytime to say some nice things about the program on the other side of The Game.
It went mostly well... 😂 pic.twitter.com/mysiV90xqQ
Last season, Harbaugh got his first win over Ohio State since becoming head coach in 2015. This made the rivalry not feel as one-sided. Day will look to get back in a huge way in the 2022 College Football season.