Ohio State Football: What is Ryan Day’s identity?
By Ryan Stano
The Ohio State football program was very successful under Urban Meyer. They won Big Ten championships and a national championship under Meyer. The Buckeyes had an identity and culture under Meyer and that’s why he was undefeated in The Game.
Ryan Day has been the coach of the Buckeyes for four full seasons now. That’s enough to have his own culture and identity within the program. Almost all of the players that played under Meyer are gone now. Day should be able to have his own culture that the program is built on.
Yet,I’m not sure that there is a football identity. He’s done an amazing job of instituting a culture where his players can come to him in any sort of crisis. His players trust him and Day makes sure that they are treated as people and not just athletes on the field.
That’s extremely important in a football program. What’s equally important is an identity on the football field. So far, we’ve seen the Buckeyes known for a lot of passing yards and that’s about it. Good quarterback and wide receiver play. But they don’t have a go-to play when things get tough or they really need a score.
That’s the sort of thing that the Ohio State football program needs in order to be successful this season. It’s time that Day put that stamp on this program. He doesn’t have a program-defining win yet, although one could argue the beatdown of Clemson in 2020 is pretty close.
dark. Next. Young talent will finally see the field
Day is a really good coach. I want to see him succeed, as does every other Buckeye fan. Once that identity is established, the program can finally be truly elite. I hope that happens this year. That would mean they are national championship contenders.