Ryan Day was just four years old, less than a week after his offense had put up 567 yards of offense and 62 points, when his boss Gene Smith and Urban Meyer handed him the keys. Ohio State football.
“On offense, we continue to force defenses to cover the entire field …” Day remarked from behind a lectern in Columbus on Dec. 4, 2018, the day “winning the rivalry game” and “winning every game after that” formally became the two most important non-family things in his world. “I feel strongly about our offense’s ability to adapt to our personnel, year in and year out.
“On defense, we’ll be aggressive, with multiple fronts, sound and simple for the players so that they will have the ability to play fast.”
On part of that, Day’s kept his word and then some. He took over Ohio State’s program at an interesting time — not just with regard to everything that happened with Meyer, but with where the game of football was (and where it was headed) offensively. Day was able to quickly guide Ohio State through a transition that worked away from Meyer’s smash-mouth spread, where the quarterback-run game was critical to the team’s success, to a wide-open attack that truly attracts some of the best skill talent in America.
Day’s pass offense, true to his promise, has been as creative as anything in America. Both his starting quarterbacks, Justin Fields and Day, were excellent.
