How Ryan Day handles the pressures at Ohio State - ESPN

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State coach Ryan Day leans back into the leather couch in his office, days away from the season-opening showdown against top-ranked Texas.

Behind him, the Rose and Cotton Bowl trophies from last year's playoff run gleam on a shelf. Across the room, a black-and-white photograph captures Jeremiah Smith's game-clinching grab against Notre Dame — the play that sealed the Buckeyes' first national championship in a decade.

That thrilling victory vaulted Day into exclusive company: only two other active college football head coaches — Clemson's Dabo Swinney and Georgia's Kirby Smart — have won national titles.

«We've won a lot of games, but when you haven't won the whole thing, you don't necessarily get the benefit of the doubt with everybody,» says Day, who took over for Urban Meyer in 2019 after just two seasons on his staff. «You'll never get the benefit of the doubt with everybody, I guess. But winning one certainly gives a lot of credibility to what we're doing.»

Nine months earlier, Day faced the fiercest scrutiny of his career — the result of a fourth straight loss to Michigan. As the final seconds ticked away in the 13-10 defeat at the Horseshoe, Ohio State students chanted «F--- Ryan Day.»

The jeers escalated into death threats. Armed guards had to be stationed at the Day home, as they had been after past Michigan losses. Day's wife, Nina, even received threatening text messages and calls on her phone.

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«Fans were yelling at his wife in stores, his kids were getting messed with at school,» said 2024 Buckeyes captain Jack Sawyer, who's now a defensive end for the Pittsburgh Steelers.