Ohio State Head Coach Ryan Day just won his 1st National Championship last season. There are still questions about him as a head coach because of how his team has performed so poorly against Michigan, having lost 4 straight. This past summer, I was visiting a friend of mine in Ohio, and our conversation turned to the Day. Here is how it went:
"If they ever recorded what was said on the headset you could make a lot of money... Coach Meyer and I used to go at it." 🤣@OhioStateFB's Ryan Day talks about the things he learned from play calling with @CoachUrbanMeyer ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/l8i1gD3Ui5
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) August 26, 2025
The sentiment for a long time in the rivalry has been that you can win every game but, losing in "The Game" would make the season a failure. The Ohio State Buckeyes have however shifted from that feeling especially as they just won the National Championship.
This encapsulates the problem with Ryan Day as Head Coach of the Buckeyes. Day is an incredible 70-10 as Head Coach of the Buckeyes. Including winning last year’s National Championship, but he has a career record of 1-4 against Michigan. That includes last year’s embarrassing loss, 13-10 at home.
In a lot of ways, the Michigan game is a season within a season. Every coach and player is judged on how they perform in that game. It might even matter more than a National Championship, to outsiders that might sound crazy, but living through it as a kid growing up in Ohio and then going to school at Ohio State, it is largely true. You are expected to beat Michigan, and if you do not, then your season can be judged as a failure, even if you win the National Championship.
The other problem for Day is that he followed Urban Meyer, who went 7-0 against Michigan. Meyer also won a National Championship, so in most ways, he is held in higher regard by Ohio State fans. Meyer has supported Day since he took over, but it's hard for Day not to feel the pressure of not being compared to Meyer.
In a lot of ways, Day reminds me of former Ohio State coach John Cooper, who was the Ohio State Head Coach from 1988-2000. Cooper was a successful head coach who is in the College Football Hall of Fame, but he struggled badly against Michigan, going 2-10-1. Now the difference is Cooper never had a 12-team playoff to save his season like Day did last year. Several times, his teams went into the match-up against Michigan, a higher-ranked but still lost the game. Like Day, Cooper could recruit at a high level; so, it would have been fascinating if any of his 1990s teams could have gone on a National Title run like Day did.
Day is again an incredible 70-10 as head coach, but going 1-4 vs. the team up north has still frustrated Ohio State fans. Like the conversation I had with my friend, Ohio State fans still struggle with him being a great coach, but continuing to lose to their arch-rival. It would behoove Day to beat Michigan this year because going 1-5 is ridiculous in the eyes of Ohio State fans, even if he is a National Title-winning coach.
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