The Ohio State football program has a lot of expectations around it every single year. Despite that, Ryan Day has done a fairly good job of keeping up with them. Every single year, fans of the Buckeyes expect them to compete for a national championship. Most years, anything less than that is a failure.
Day was able to win a national championship in 2024. However, he has still only beaten TTUN once with his own players. Last year, he finally got the monkey off his back in that regard, destroying the Wolverines in Ann Arbor. That helped Ohio State finish the regular season undefeated.
That is why fans weren't horribly mad about how the season ended, by losing both the Big Ten Championship and the Cotton Bowl. Still, fans have to know that Day is one of the best coaches in the country. In fact, he has finally been properly rated by the media.
Ryan Day ranked as the third-best coach in the country
According to ESPN, the head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes is the third-best coach in the country. He has Day listed behind only Curt Cignetti and Kirby Smart. Cignetti is the defending national champion who just beat Day. Smart has two national titles.
For once, ESPN actually properly rated Day. Being behind those two coaches is fair for what Day has accomplished so far in his career. In fact, one voter had him number-one overall. That was Jake Trotter, who cited the fact that no one has a higher winning percentage than Day.
"Two seasons ago, he delivered Ohio State's first national championship in a decade, leading the Buckeyes on a dominant playoff run. Last November, he finally cleared the one obstacle critics held against him, beating Michigan 27-9 in Ann Arbor. Every preseason, Ohio State is deservedly in the national title conversation," says Trotter.
ESPN Still has Ryan Day and Ohio State critics
Not everyone loves what Day has done in his tenure. In fact, Bill Connelly rated Day insanely low, voting him eighth. His reasoning is stupid, as he thinks Ohio State is good every year, so it doesn't matter who is coaching the team.
"Honestly, it's just really hard to evaluate the performance of a successful Ohio State head coach, as it has been the most consistently awesome program in the nation for decades. I may have dropped Day too far after last season, but I just didn't think he stuck the landing at all in 2025," Connelly wrote.
Ranking Day low because the Buckeyes are the most consistent program in America is dumb. Ohio State has maintained that status because of what Day has done. Day won a national championship because of the guys he recruited and developed.
Winning another national championship this season would force Connelly to change his mind. No one else in the exercise had Day rated lower than fourth. Does that make Connelly a hater? It very well might. It seems everyone else on ESPN's staff had some sense to them.
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