Ryan Day has guided the Ohio State Buckeyes to a 45-6 record in four seasons (2019-22) that includes a 31-2 record against Big Ten Conference competition, back-to-back Big Ten championships in 2019 and 2020, and Sugar Bowl (2020) and Rose Bowl (2021) victories. During his tenure he has guided Ohio State to 16 consecutive victories and 23 consecutive wins in Big Ten games, and his Buckeyes are the only program in the nation to qualify for the College Football Playoffs three times since 2019.
Day’s teams have been among the best offensive teams in the nation, ranking in the Top 3 nationally in scoring three times and Top 10 in total offense in all four of his seasons as head coach. Ohio State was No. 1 in the nation in both total offense and scoring offense in 2021. Additionally, Ohio State was No. 1 nationally in total defense and passing defense in 2019.
Day has coached 18 first-team All-Americans, six consecutive Big Ten Quarterback of the Year honorees, five consecutive Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year honorees and five Heisman Trophy finalists. He has also coached 16 NFL Draft picks and nine first-round NFL Draft picks, including all three of his Ohio State starting quarterbacks (Dwayne Haskins, 2019; Justin Fields, 2021; and C.J. Stroud, 2023).
In the classroom, his Buckeyes have set program records for number of OSU Scholar-Athletes (61 in 2020-21) and Academic All-Big Ten Conference honorees (46 in 2021). And in the most recent Academic Progress Rate scores, which accounts for academic eligibility, retention and graduation, Ohio State football had its highest-ever rate of 993 for the 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22 academic years.
Day became the first Ohio State coach in 40 years to be named Big Ten Conference Coach of the Year when he earned the honor in 2019.
Day is the first Ohio State coach to win Big Ten championships in his first two years as coach, in 2019 and again in 2020, and he also set the standard by leading Ohio State into the College Football Playoffs for two consecutive years, in 2019 and 2020.
A terrific relationship with prospects and their families has helped Day and Ohio State annually secure Top 5 recruiting classes, including four consecutive in the 247Sports rankings (#5 in 2023; #4 in 2022; #2 in 2021 and #5 in 2020).
Day was named Ohio State head coach by Senior Vice President and Wolfe Foundation Endowed Athletics Director Gene Smith on Dec. 4, 2018.
45-6 Overall Record
The 2022 Buckeyes went 11-2 overall and lost to the No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs in the College Football Playoff semifinals at the Peach Bowl, 42-1. QB C.J. Stroud was a Heisman Trophy finalist for the second consecutive year and he also repeated as the Big Ten’s offensive player and quarterback of the year. In addition, WR Marvin Harrison was a unanimous All-American and OT Paris Johnson was a consensus All-American.
Day led the Buckeyes to an 11-2 record in 2021 and to a ninth consecutive Big Ten East Division championship or co-championship. Just a freshman, Stroud was a Heisman Trophy finalist, the third quarterback in the last four years coached by Day to be so honored. Stroud also won the Big Ten’s quarterback and offensive player of the year awards, the fourth and fifth consecutive years, respectively, that a Day-coached Buckeye has won the honors. Five Buckeyes were first-team All-Americans: WRs Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson, OL Thayer Munford and Nicholas Petit-Frere and K Noah Ruggles.
The 2020 pandemic-shortened season was a superior coaching performance by Day, who coached and counseled and led his team through months of separation, the anxiety of a canceled season and then of a reduced season, and then the actual start/stop season. Ohio State was 5-0 in a scheduled eight-game regular season that had Maryland and Michigan cancel games with the Buckeyes because of the pandemic and that saw Ohio State cancel a game at Illinois because of the pandemic. Overall, the team finished 7-1 with Justin Fields awarded the Big Ten’s offensive player and quarterback of the year trophies and OG Wyatt Davis, CB Shaun Wade and DT Haskell Garrett all earning first-team All-America honors.
The undefeated record in the 2020 regular season earned Ohio State its fourth consecutive trip to Indianapolis and the Big Ten championship game, where the team defeated Northwestern, 22-10, to set itself up for a second consecutive invite to the College Football Playoffs, a program first. Ohio State defeated No. 2 Clemson, 49-28, in the CFP Semifinals at the Sugar Bowl and advanced to the CFP championship game.
