When former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer announced his retirement in early December of 2018, it seemed like no coach would be able to top his incredible run in Columbus.
Meyer finished 83-9 in seven seasons at Ohio State, winning the first ever College Football Playoff and firmly establishing the Buckeyes as both a Big Ten and national power.
Things within the program looked foggy when Meyer retired, even with the announcement that Ohio State primary play caller Ryan Day would take over for the college football legend.
The country would soon find out that there would be no change in expectations under Day.
“I think the great thing was that I had really learned a lot from Urban here and kept so many things in place,” Day said on Friday.
Day, who already owned a 3-0 record at Ohio State after filling in for a suspended Meyer in 2018, quickly made a name for himself. He posted a 13-1 record in year No. 1, keeping Columbus at the forefront of college football.
He credits his former head coach for putting a foundation in place that he could build from.
“Certainly we did change some things and re-frame some things, but we kept a lot of the structure the same,” Day said of the transition. “I think that because of that it was fairly seamless.”
Those three opportunities as acting head coach were massive for Day. Meyer has stated that without the coaching potential he saw in his offensive coordinator, retiring would have been an extremely difficult move to make.
Ohio State’s 2018 offense was among the best in school history, in large part to the scheming of Day. It started the season under Day and scored 169 points in its first three games, wins over Oregon State, Rutgers, and No. 15 TCU.
Day said the early opportunity to lead in 2018 led him to the favorable position he and his program are in today.
“I do think maybe that the first couple games a couple of years ago that I was able to work through training camp and the first couple of games with the guys- there was some confidence and credibility that was built there with some of the guys on the team,” Day said.
Beyond finding connections with his players, the current head coach of the Buckeyes credited everyone within the program’s “infrastructure” who kept it humming through a coaching change. Day said Gene Smith, Mickey Marotti, Mark Pantoni, and Ryan Stamper are “mainstays” who play a large role in the current culture of Ohio State football.
No matter what, recruiting will always be the defining trait of a program’s success on the national stage. Ohio State only finished outside of the top-five in the national recruiting rankings once in Meyer’s seven years, per Rivals. It landed 16 five-star prospects during his tenure.
Day picked up right where his predecessor left off. His class of 2020 was No. 5 nationally. Next year’s group sits at No. 2 and is shaping up to be one of the best hauls in school history.
“I think we’re recruiting really good people and really good families,” Day said. “I think when you look at the type of people and the character that we’re recruiting, that’s the lifeblood of this thing.”
The only way to build a program is by building trust. It’s how Meyer achieved success at Florida and Ohio State and how Day intends to further his already-impressive resume in Columbus.
It comes down to caring about every member of the program, something Day focuses on every day.
“You just gotta do the best you can to love your players,” Day said. “And that’s what our coaching staff does, and I think they thrive off of that and they believe in what we’re doing.”
The future is bright in central Ohio.
