The questions persist every time Ryan Day appears on TV or social media.
Does he or doesn’t? How can a 45-year-old coaching in one of sports hottest pressure cookers maintain that coal black hair and beard?
If it’s natural, congratulations to him.
If not, the entire world may get to see the start of the graying transformation come Saturday afternoon in Columbus if heavily-favored No. 2 Ohio State (10-1, 7-1 Big Ten) is upset by Michigan in The Game, the title given to one of the fiercest rivalries in sports.
Michigan (6-5, 4-4 Big Ten) has not only won the past three meetings, but those wins led to three straight conference titles and, to the dismay of Buckeye fans everywhere, the 2023 national championship.
Now, Day faces the biggest game of his career since replacing Urban Meyer after the 2018 season.
Meyer, by the way, was 7-0 against Michigan. Those numbers are smack dab in the middle of the logo for his restaurant outside Columbus.
No one is ready to build an eatery, much less a statue for Day, although his coaching résumé would make most fan bases envious.
Not in Ohio’s capital city.
Forget Day’s 66-9 record (.800), a 46-4 mark in the Big Ten; his 11-8 record vs. top-10 teams while going 4-6 against top-5 opponents; a 47-0 record vs. unranked teams; two Big Ten titles; and three College Football Playoff appearances (2019, 2020, 2022).
After benefiting from about $20 million in NIL money to entice standout transfers such as safety Caleb Downs, quarterback Will Howard, running back Quinshon Judkins and center Seth McLaughlin, as well as using funds for a dozen players who decided to stay for another crack at the Wolverines instead of entering the NFL draft, Day has to, no, must beat Michigan.
“I’m excited about this game,” Day said Tuesday. “I’m excited about this team. I love the look in their eye. I love coming to work every day. But this is not about me. It’s about these seniors that decided to come back. … They want to have hardware. That’s what motivates me. I’m excited for them to go out and play this thing and go win it.”
The fear of Buckeye fans is falling back to the John Cooper era from 1988-2000, when Michigan owned a 10-2-1 record. He was followed by Jim Tressel and Meyer, who combined to go 16-2.
Day, many forget, added a win in his first try in 2019 against Jim Harbaugh. The following season, The Game was cancelled at Michigan’s request because of the COVID-19 pandemic, although any diehard Ohio State fan will tell you Harbaugh was ducking playing a Buckeye team led by Justin Fields that reached the national title game.
That means the last win by Ohio State was five long years ago.
Don’t think Day feels the strain?
On his Game Time with Ryan Day weekly TV show on Monday, he said the three straight losses are among the worst things that ever happened to him, including his father committing suicide when he was young.
“Other than losing my father and a few other things, like it’s quite honestly, for my family, the worst thing that’s happened,” he said. “So, we can never have that happen again ever. And that’s been the approach all season.”
Roger Harper, an Ohio State safety who went 0-3-1 vs. Michigan from 1989-92, recounted in the most recent issue of the periodical Buckeye Sports Bulletin a meeting Day had in the offseason with him and other former Buckeyes.
“He had us all together,” Harper said. “And he said, ‘Hey, fellas, you guys know that O-H-I-O chant we say? Those last two letters—I owe you guys. This is going to be a different year for us.’ ”
Harper said he appreciated the gesture, but actions speak louder than words.
“Ryan Day has told us, he stated himself, I owe you guys,” he said. “So, we’re going to see come (Saturday) where we are at on that. Because if he doesn’t win, it’s going to be ugly. They’re going right for his head.”
