When it comes to redemption arcs in sports, very few people have one as triumphant as Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day.
A year ago, the walls were closing in on Day after his Buckeyes inexplicably lost their fourth consecutive rivalry game against the Michigan Wolverines. None of those losses were worse than the 2024 contest when Ohio State entered as 19.5 point favorites against a Michigan team that could barely complete a forward pass where they somehow lost 13-10 after a performance that left many calling for his job.
The images of Day staring blankly off into space while Ohio State and Michigan players were fighting at midfield and getting pepper sprayed painted the picture of a man who looked completely out of his depths, in spite of his impressive record elsewhere.
But now, that looks like a turning point that Ryan Day and the Buckeyes have used to launch themselves to another level. Day went a perfect 4-0 in the College Football Playoff to win the school’s first national championship since 2014. He has then followed that up with a perfect regular season including a dominant performance in The Game and finally getting the Michigan monkey off his back in a 27-9 victory.
Ryan Day is certainly entitled to take a victory lap after all the abuse and criticism he has received in recent years. But his “win with humility” message after the Michigan game has only added to the admiration that he is earned in the last year, even from proud Wolverines alums.
That includes star podcaster Taylor Lewan from Bussin’ with the Boys. Lewan was surprised with a guest appearance from Day on their recap show this week. And he stepped up to the plate to first offer a direct apology to the Ohio State head coach as he and Will Compton kicked off their interview.
“I have said a lot of nasty things,” Lewan said. “Even after the spring tour. I’ve used the third base comment. I’ve said not a leader of men. And my opinion shouldn’t and does not matter to you. However, I will say, I was wrong. And you truly, you beat our a– and you did it with humility. You did it the way Ohio State should have probably done it last year. And you have proven me wrong and I want to formally apologize for that because it’s one thing to make comments in rivalries and stuff like that and things that I did believe at the time. But for you to go 16-0 since the game that happened in Columbus last year, it shows how much of a leader you are in that locker room and it’s very impressive. So, that’s the last nice thing I’ll say.”
Of course, Ryan Day could have taken the opportunity to rub his win over Michigan in Lewan’s face or even try to get back at Jim Harbaugh for those comments years ago about him being born on third base. Instead, he stuck to his message and took the high road once again.
“I appreciate it Taylor, I’ve got a lot of respect for you. It means a lot, but it’s a tribute to these guys and the program, these kids. There’s a lot of great life lessons over the last year of just life. This is life, right? This is the world we live in. This stage that we play on and you get what comes with losing games. And the only way to get it right is to get it fixed. And we certainly have got it fixed the last 12 months, but we’ve got to move on because we’ve got Indiana this week and a lot ahead of us,” Day responded.
Ryan Day and Ohio State could lose to Indiana and fail to repeat as national champions, but that wouldn’t necessarily mean his season has been a failure. The victory over Michigan following up his national championship, and more importantly the way he has carried himself through so many ups and downs, has finally won him the respect he has deserved.
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