'His kids were getting messed with at school': How Ryan Day handles the pressures at Ohio State

"COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State coach Ryan Day leans back into the leather couch in his office, days away from the season-opening showdown against top-ranked Texas. Behind him, the Rose and Cotton Bowl trophies from last year's playoff run gleam on a shelf. Across the room, a black-and-white photograph captures Jeremiah Smith's game-clinching grab against Notre Dame -- the play that sealed the Buckeyes' first national championship in a decade."

""We've won a lot of games, but when you haven't won the whole thing, you don't necessarily get the benefit of the doubt with everybody," says Day, who took over for Urban Meyer in 2019 after just two seasons on his staff. "You'll never get the benefit of the doubt with everybody, I guess. But winning one certainly gives a lot of credibility to what we're doing.""

Ryan Day sits in his office days before Ohio State's season-opening game against top-ranked Texas. Rose and Cotton Bowl trophies from last year's playoff run gleam on a shelf. A black-and-white photograph captures Jeremiah Smith's game-clinching grab against Notre Dame, the play that sealed the Buckeyes' first national championship in a decade. That victory vaulted Day into exclusive company with only two other active head coaches who have won national titles, Dabo Swinney and Kirby Smart. Day took over for Urban Meyer in 2019 after two seasons on his staff. Nine months earlier Day faced fierce scrutiny following a fourth straight loss to Michigan and vulgar student chants.

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