College football players have made no shortage of sacrifices to participate in a fall football season during a global pandemic, but on Friday, Ryan Day said certain Ohio State coaches are taking extreme measures of their own to avoid the risk of an outbreak.

The Buckeyes’ head coach said some members of his staff aren’t living at home with their families due to the risk of their children going to and from school while COVID-19 continues to spread across the country.

“For those of us who have school-age children at home, it’s very, very difficult,” Day said. “And to make sacrifices, some of us are not sleeping in our homes, and it’s not easy.”

In the past week, several Ohio State position coaches have all discussed the importance of having depth on the roster this year more than any other due to the potential for players to miss a third of the regular season if they test positive for COVID-19.

Day echoed that sentiment Friday, and said that the Buckeyes may need all 120 players on the roster this season, given the circumstances.

“They’re one snap away,” Day said. “They’re one day away from being in their first game.”

Less discussed, however, have been the contingency plans that would need to be put into practice if a coach –– or several coaches –– were to test positive for the virus and miss a significant chunk of time.

Day said those conversations have been taking place in his program since before the preseason period began.

One positive for Day and his staff in case a coach does go down, is that play-calling duties for both offensive and defensive coordinators are split between multiple people.

“Between Kevin [Wilson] and I on offense, we call it together, and it’s the same thing with Kerry [Coombs] and Greg [Mattison] on defense, so we feel pretty good there,” Day said.

Losing several coaches isn’t just a hypothetical or unprecedented situation, though.

After previously dealing with game postponements due to virus outbreaks among players at Virginia Tech, Hokies’ defensive coordinator Justin Hamilton, as well as the team’s linebackers coach, a quality control coach and a grad assistant were all unable to take the sideline last week.

Day said he hasn’t put specific guidelines in place for how each coach needs to handle how to mitigate risks, and has not dictated who might need to stay away from their family in particular. However, Day said when he enters his own household, he wears a mask.

With the new daily COVID-19 antigen tests arriving this past Wednesday, Day said there is an increased peace of mind surrounding operations at team facilities, but that doesn’t extend outside of it.

“It’s a great feeling to know, in this building, when you’re around our bubble right here, you’re good,” Day said. “But once you leave here, everything changes. Honestly, it’s scary because it can ruin your season just like that.”

The Buckeyes may not have run into any catastrophes just yet, but with another three weeks before the beginning of a nine-week season, maintaining a clean bill of health for the vital pieces of the program could figure to be a daunting task.