COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ryan Day has some tread on him.
Creases line the bottom of his eyes, which have seen some things as he enters his 10th year at Ohio State. When Day talks, his voice inflects a distinct set of experiences.
He's not an old coach. He's no longer a young one, either.
"I hear Ryan sometimes, I listen to Ryan, and I'm like, 'Whew, he sounds tired,'" said Rutgers coach Greg Schiano, who worked with Day on Ohio State's staff from 2017 to 2018. "It's an exhausting, exhausting place, a pressure cooker."
Ohio State is exhausting. The demands on the leader of one of the most successful sports organizations in all of America, not just college football, are lofty and unrelenting.
Day had a sense of the place when he arrived as a mostly unknown assistant in 2017, but his understanding is much deeper after a decade as a Buckeye, the past seven years as head coach.
"Some days it feels like I just got here," Day said. "Other days, it feels like I've been here for 20 years. You think about when I first got here and where it is right now, there's not too many places in the world that could provide an opportunity like this."
He's 47 now, the father of a high school senior quarterback, R.J., who grew up at Ohio State. His youngest child, Nia, born in 2014, "only knows Ohio," he said.
Day isn't the most celebrated coach in Ohio State history. He hasn't dominated Michigan or piled up Big Ten titles like predecessors Urban Meyer and Jim Tressel did. He's not a native Ohioan like Meyer, Tressel or the iconic Woody Hayes, and his New Hampshire roots surface when he speaks.
His on-field credentials, however, are elite -- a winning percentage of .872, top-10 finishes in each season and only one below No. 6 (the 2023 team went 11-2), 11 or more wins in all six of the nonshortened seasons, two Big Ten titles and the national title two years ago. His losses also have been magnified at a place where, as Day points out unironically, you're never allowed to lose.
What Day has shown, unlike the others, is that a first-time head coach can grow and last at a program where the lights are the brightest and the expectations are the highest, and become one of the nation's best. Before Day, Ohio State had not hired a first-time head coach since Paul Bixler in 1946. He resigned after just one season.
Day is 82-12. He has impacted Ohio State's passing game like no other coach in team history and faced a range of tests at one of the highest-profile jobs in sports.
"He was a young guy," Tressel said. "It wasn't like he didn't have good football experiences, but he had never had that position, and for him to have the maturity and the wherewithal to do what he's done, to me, it's extraordinary."
Day's uncomfortable, exhausting, resilient and successful decade at Ohio State has prepared him for a 2026 season that brings one of the toughest schedules in team history. If he navigates the gauntlet, he could claim something neither Meyer nor Tressel did with the Buckeyes -- a second national title.
OHIO STATE'S OFFENSE hadn't built momentum from its national championship run in 2014, and was shut out 31-0 by Clemson in the CFP semifinal to end the 2016 season. Meyer made a splashy coordinator hire in Kevin Wilson, a former Indiana coach, who had overseen potent offenses at Oklahoma and elsewhere.
In a much quieter move, Meyer also hired Day, a graduate assistant with him at Florida in 2005, to coach the quarterbacks. Day had coordinator experience at Temple and Boston College, and had coached quarterbacks for mentor Chip Kelly with two NFL franchises (Philadelphia, San Francisco).
Ohio State had finished 81st nationally in passing the year before Day arrived. The Buckeyes hadn't had a quarterback selected in the first round of the NFL draft since 1982. In Day's first season on staff, Ohio State rose to 36th in passing. Then, in 2018, quarterback Dwayne Haskins led the FBS in passing yards (4,831) and passing touchdowns (50), soared past Ohio State's single-season records and finished third in Heisman Trophy voting.
"His offensive talents and skills were just off the chain," Gene Smith, Ohio State's athletic director at the time, said of Day. "He knew how to attack defenses, and he was creative."
"An elite playcaller," added Meyer.
Day tailored the scheme to each quarterback's strengths, varying formations and tempos. Before he arrived, Ohio State had just two 3,000-yard passers and no 4,000-yard passers. The Buckeyes have had 3,000-yard passers in each of their past eight non-COVID-shortened seasons, and three 4,000-yard passers during the span.
In 2019, Haskins ended Ohio State's first-round QB drought by going No. 15. Justin Fields and C.J. Stroud followed as first-round selections in 2021 and 2023, respectively. The Buckeyes also accelerated their output of NFL first-round wide receivers with six in the past five drafts. Since 2017, Ohio State leads the nation in points per game (39.98), total QBR (87.3) and passing touchdowns (344). Since 2018, the Buckeyes rank third in passing average (296.9 yards per game).
"We changed the way the Big Ten scores points," said co-offensive coordinator Keenan Bailey, who has worked under Day in several roles for the past decade.
Day wasn't just a backroom tactician. He worked well with personnel chief Mark Pantoni, now Ohio State's general manager, discovering overlooked prospects such as wide receiver Chris Olave, who became an NFL first-round draft pick at Ohio State. "His ability to recruit, he was organized, he was able to connect with kids, his emotional awareness is very strong," Pantoni said. "You saw all the qualities of a head coach early on."
When Ohio State suspended Meyer for the first three games of the 2018 season for mishandling domestic assault allegations against former assistant Zach Smith, the team didn't turn to more experienced assistants like Schiano and Wilson for interim coach. Day got the call and went 3-0.
Meyer had targeted his 55th birthday as the time to step down at Ohio State. But even before he considered retiring, he met with AD Gene Smith and Ohio State's president, telling them that Day could be a strong successor.
Smith needed little convincing. He had seen Day's football chops in practices and games. He liked that Day had spent time in the NFL, as Ohio State is "damn near close" to a pro organization. Smith also was struck by how Day interacted in the program, not just with players but staff members in recruiting/personnel, athletic training, strength and conditioning, academics and other key departments.
Ohio State didn't want to clean house after Meyer's 83-9 run. Continuity was the objective.
"His interpersonal skills were just phenomenal," Smith said. "He relates to people so well. As an assistant, I noticed that right away. His personality was just easy to deal with, and everybody liked him. So before even Urban announced [his retirement], I had my list, and Ryan jumped to the top of that list."
DAY HAD A blistering start as Ohio State's permanent head coach, but when the calendar flipped to December 2024, his chances of lasting a decade looked bleak. The Buckeyes had lost their fourth straight game to archrival Michigan, and second straight at Ohio Stadium, despite being favored by 19.5 points. During an ugly postgame skirmish at midfield, Michigan attempted to plant its flag, as punches were thrown, helmets were tossed and pepper spray was deployed.
Day stood off to the side, stunned by the result and the scene, and not exactly projecting strength. The backlash against him was swift and severe. Day's family received threats, including some on social media toward his son R.J. There were calls for Ryan Day's job, and while athletic director Ross Bjork publicly supported him, Ohio State's first-round College Football Playoff home matchup against Tennessee loomed as a must-win for the coach.
"It was not good after that [Team] Up North game, in town and nationally. Like, our backs were against the wall," Bailey said. "He was getting a lot of it, and the players knew it. I think that's why they fought for him so much."
The meeting Day held with just his players after the Michigan loss, filled with charged emotions and aired frustrations, is largely regarded as the turning point, but Day did much more behind the scenes. He shuttered himself inside Ohio State's Woody Hayes Athletic Center for weeks in December, crafting how the Buckeyes would attack CFP first-round opponent Tennessee, and then Oregon in the quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl.
"He put the whole program on his back," Bailey said. "... The way he led the staff, we're not talking about rah-rah speeches. It's the Christmas season, and I don't know how much that guy slept.
"He outworked freaking everyone."
Defensive line coach Larry Johnson, who has been at Ohio State since 2014, said Day instilled a sense of urgency with the team while stiff-arming any panic. Longtime strength coach Mickey Marotti saw the quarterback come out in Day, who had set records playing the position for the University of New Hampshire.
"He always tells the quarterbacks, 'You've gotta stay in there, man. You might take a shot to the chin. You might get a sack. You might have to move your feet. But do not leave that pocket until you know you're gonna get the first down,'" Marotti said.
Kelly, Ohio State's offensive coordinator in 2024, coached Day at New Hampshire, and grew up in Day's hometown, Manchester. Kelly said Day "has been a head coach his whole life," developing leadership skills as a catcher in baseball, a point guard in basketball and a quarterback.
But Day had not faced scrutiny like he did after the Michigan loss.
"His resiliency, I knew he was built like that," Kelly said. "To be able to have great resolve and to just stick to his guns, 'This is what got us here.' We had a hiccup. How do we come back and win four straight?"
After being humbled by Michigan, which held Ohio State to season lows for points (10) and yards (252), the Buckeyes scored a combined 83 points in wins against Tennessee and Oregon, piling up 337 rushing yards. They achieved nearly perfect run-pass balance against Notre Dame in the national championship game, as Ohio State won its first title since 2014.
"He just went to work, he did everything," Bailey said. "His performance, I will put up against any CEO, government leader, military leader. He led that charge."
DAY HAD SPENT two years developing under Meyer before replacing him. He had some of the same football philosophies, but his demeanor was different.
Meyer burned with an infamous intensity.
"Almost fourth-and-inches every day," Pantoni, who worked with Meyer at both Florida and Ohio State, said of the atmosphere.
In Day, Ohio State hoped it had a coach who could keep the best people in place and create an uplifting environment without lowering the bar for performance. College football was changing, with much of the power shifting to players because of NIL opportunities and the transfer portal.
Coaches had to be relatable.
"He's a family coach," Johnson said of Day. "That makes a difference."
The caveat, of course, was that Day had never led a program, and Ohio State wasn't just any program.
"You're expected to win every game, you're expected to win championships every year, you're expected to have the best recruiting class, you're expected to have the most NFL draft picks," Marotti said. "[Day] always says that it's not for the faint of heart. Your values and your expectations and objectives have to be the same as the program. Anything less than that, you kind of would get eaten up."
Meyer had his concerns about Day taking on such a big first job, which he called "a monster." But Day also had the advantage of three years on the inside, rather than coming from elsewhere, like Tressel (Youngstown State), John Cooper (Arizona State) and Earle Bruce (Iowa State) all did.
"You look back in the history of Ohio State, not many people are ready for that thing," Meyer said. "The good thing was Ryan saw the pressures and the decision-making and all the things involved. Of all the people, he might have been more prepared because he was there."
Day won 20 of his first 22 games as Ohio State's permanent coach, claiming consecutive Big Ten titles and suffering his only losses in the four-team CFP. In 2019, he became the first Ohio State coach in 40 years to be named Big Ten Coach of the Year.
Ohio State's succession plan was working. Day had the key qualities to succeed and sustain at a program like Ohio State. But then he stopped beating Michigan, and questions began to bubble. Among them: Was Day tough enough, and were his teams?
Before Ohio State's visit to Notre Dame in 2023, former Fighting Irish coach Lou Holtz said the Buckeyes hadn't been physical enough in high-profile losses under Day, adding that he expected another to follow against Notre Dame. After Ohio State won, a normally composed Day, in his postgame interview with NBC, repeatedly cited his team's toughness and lashed out at the 86-year-old Holtz, saying, "I'd like to know where Lou Holtz is right now. What he said about our team, I cannot believe."
Day had made "Fight" a team motto, going back to 2020 during COVID. But he couldn't shake the doubts after the losses to Michigan and missing the CFP in 2021 and 2023. The 2024 loss to Michigan, and what happened afterward, only amplified things.
"As a leader in that type of fishbowl, if you're not tough, you won't survive," Smith said. "You can have all the other requisite skills, but you've got to have a toughness. He's got an inner toughness that you don't see all the time, because it's not something that you have to display. But you've got to have that resolve to get through issues, and he's got it."
THE CHALLENGE FOR a first-time coach is enhanced by the demographics of Ohio State -- "a complex place, as far as the size and scope and politics of the university," Meyer said.
The Buckeyes don't just play in a big stadium on a big campus. Everything about the program is supersized, from the revenue it generates to the number of people it touches -- locally in Columbus, within a football-obsessed state, and nationally. A coach can't truly wrap his arms around a program like Ohio State, but Day has tried.
"I try to identify the different job descriptions it takes to be the head coach of Ohio State," Day said. "You have your university obligations, you have emerging issues. I've talked to our new president, Ravi [Bellamkonda], and he sort of looks at it the same way. One of the big job descriptions is talent acquisition. That means your staff, that means your roster, your players, and then building that culture and alignment."
Day has become more proactive about outlining the expectations and opportunities for anyone who could be joining the program. He doesn't want any ambiguity about what they're walking into at Ohio State.
"When I was younger, I don't think I did a great job of really laying that out for folks," he admitted. "They kind of joined in, 'Here's who we are,' and then as time goes on, you make assumptions, like, that person is going to do X, Y and Z, or they're going to handle themselves in a certain way, or they're going to give us two or three years. But if you don't lay those out for people, there becomes this little communication gap."
Day's personnel management has included making tough choices about responsibilities, including his own.
He has toggled with offensive playcalling during his tenure, handling the role from 2019 to 2023, then relinquishing calls to Kelly in 2024, and then reclaiming them late last season. In January, Day hired Arthur Smith, a former NFL coach and offensive coordinator, to oversee the offense and call plays this fall. Day often cites the motto "to move up, you have to give up," and while giving up playcalling isn't easy, he knows his time can be better spent elsewhere.
"As time has gone on, he's been able to step back a little bit every year and understand the big picture of being a CEO head coach," Pantoni said.
Part of Day's evolution is his desire to link the program's eras. He has built a relationship with Tressel, now Ohio's lieutenant governor, and last month broke the news that Tressel would be enshrined in the Ring of Honor at Ohio Stadium during the season opener Sept. 5.
Day and Meyer have shared a laugh about Day's longevity at Ohio State, and how, as Meyer said, "one year [equals] 10 years."
"You continue to just grow roots deeper and deeper in this area, and we just fell in love with Ohio, and the people, the tradition, and the passion of Ohio State football," Day said. "I'm 47 now. When I first got here, I was 37. So just overall maturity, going from your mid-30s to your mid-40s and just the experience of being a first-time head coach, and sort of baptism by fire, just getting thrown into it."
Day recognized the pressure from day one, but the callouses he has built thousands of days later have sharpened his approach, even when the rare on-field failure occurs. Time and effort must be put into identifying what went wrong and implementing any fixes, while understanding that "not everything is broken," Day said.
But Day also puts more into growing the things Ohio State does well, and the people surrounding him.
"It's impossible to win enough at Ohio State," Tressel said. "So you kind of put that aside and say, 'OK, I just want to be as good as we can be, reach our potential.' And you start being a little bit less worried about whether we're going to lose one. When you get a perspective that's a little broader, it's a little bit easier to navigate an extremely hard job. You get a peace about you, and I think he's got a peace about him that he knows he's doing everything he can do."
