Ryan Day Pat McAfee Show Credit: The Pat McAfee Show
By Sam Neumann on

Ryan Day made peace with fake Lou Holtz on The Pat McAfee Show back in 2023.

The real Lou Holtz is still waiting for his phone call, or perhaps a letter.

Holtz took another shot at the Ohio State coach this week after the Buckeyes’ 14-7 win over Texas. Along with his usual criticism of Day’s program, Holtz revealed something that shows this feud, nearly three years in the making, has shown no signs of slowing down.

“Ryan Day can be Ryan Day. He can do whatever he wants,” Holtz told Dan Dakich on OutKick’s Don’t @ Me. “I did write him a congratulatory letter, but I never heard back from him. I’m sure he can write, but in any event, he did not answer, but that’s his alternative.”

The congratulatory letter Holtz is referring to came after Ohio State beat Notre Dame in the national championship game this past January. Day led the Buckeyes to their first title since 2014, capping off a season that included wins over Tennessee, Oregon, and Notre Dame. Holtz sent a letter. Day might as well have thrown it in the trash.

Day’s supposed silence tells you everything about where this stands three years later.

The feud began in September 2023 when Holtz went on The Pat McAfee Show and questioned Ohio State’s toughness ahead of their game at Notre Dame. He specifically targeted Day, saying Ohio State lost to teams because “they’re more physical than Ohio State” and that Notre Dame would “take that same approach.”

Ohio State won 17-14 on a goal-line touchdown with one second left. Day’s postgame interview on NBC became instantly viral when he stared into the camera and delivered one of the most memorable rants in recent college football history.

“I’d like to know where Lou Holtz is right now,” Day said. “What he said about our team, I cannot believe. This is a tough team right here. We’re proud to be from Ohio. It’s always been Ohio against the world. And it’ll continue to be Ohio against the world.”

A day later went on The Pat McAfee Show in October 2023 and made amends with Ty Schmit, the show’s crew member who impersonates Holtz. Schmit, dressed as “Fake Lou Holtz,” apologized to Day for any disrespect.

“I love Columbus… I didn’t mean to chap your ass like that, and I felt so dang bad afterward,” Schmit told Day. “If you took disrespect or you thought I was making a mockery of you or your program, I apologize.”

Day laughed it off and seemed to enjoy the absurdity of the situation. But when asked earlier this year if he’d spoken to the real Holtz since their original spat, Day’s answer was a simple “No.”

That “no” apparently extends to responding to congratulatory letters.

Holtz, for his part, isn’t letting up. His latest criticism comes after Ohio State beat the preseason No. 1 team in the country.

“I don’t think Ohio State’s a great football team,” Holtz said. “I know their schedule is very, very good, but when you’re at home and you’re outgained by well over 100 yards, you just can’t look at it and say, ‘OK, we’re great. We won the game.'”

This is the third time in three years Holtz has taken public shots at Day and Ohio State. Before the 2025 national championship game, he posted on social media that if Notre Dame didn’t win, “it’s because we want to preserve Ryan Day’s job.”

Day has beaten Notre Dame three straight times, including for a national championship. But he still won’t write Holtz back.

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.

View all posts by Sam Neumann