Ryan Day would not be the head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes right now had Chip Kelly not taken the reins of the offense in 2024 and steered Will Howard, the two-headed running back monster of TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins, and the receiving troika of Jeremiah Smith, Emeka Egbuka, and Carnell Tate to a CFP title victory.
Without Kelly, Day either relies on Brian Hartline, his receiving guru, who tends to neglect the run, or his own play-calling, which has not worked out well, as the 2023 season, the 2024 edition of "The Game," and the Big Ten Championship and Cotton Bowl Classic this past December proved, or he brings on an unpopular hire like Arthur Smith, son of FedEx's founder, who didn't exactly crush it with the Pittsburgh Steelers the past two years, or with the Atlanta Falcons the three years before that.
Day wouldn't have survived the 2024/2025 offseason had the Buckeyes fallen short against the Tennessee Volunteers, Oregon Ducks, Texas Longhorns, and Notre Dame Fighting Irish. We know Kelly saved him from that fate.
Clearly, Kelly saved Day from himself.
Arthur Smith can undo the goodwill Ryan Day built in 2024 and 2025
Day didn't even need to repeat in 2025 to prove that his program is moving in the right direction. OSU's dominance this past fall was undisputed, to the point that some see their regular season as more impressive than the Oregon Ducks and Ole Miss Rebels' runs to the CFP semifinal round.
All of that could be undone if Smith brings an inexplosive, bland brand of football to Columbus in 2026. Day really outdid himself here. Hopefully, he doesn't lose any recruits over this one. For the love of everything holy, Matt Patricia must be retained.
Day won a title, he beat TTUN, he succumbed to the two teams in the championship game, and, most importantly, he beat TTUN. What a great two-year stretch.
It might be the last bit of goodwill Day may feel for a while. 2027 may see him hit the hot seat for hiring Smith, assuming the program's roster doesn't fail to live up to the hype this coming fall.