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Throughout the Ohio State football season, we will be asking and answering questions about the team, college football, and anything else on our collective minds of varying degrees of importance. If you have a question that you would like to ask, you can tweet us @LandGrant33 or if you need more than 280 characters, send an email HERE.
It’s a dark week in Buckeye Nation as the Mighty Buckeyes have struck out… again… for the fourth time in a row. It was a disastrous weekend for the Ohio State football team, and by extension the fans. So, we wanted to check in to see where your collective heads were at about the future of the program.
So, in this week’s fan survey, we have a question about Ryan Day’s status as the team’s head coach and then another about how you think the Bucks will fare in the College Football Playoff.
Take a look at the questions — and my brief thoughts — below, and then make your voice heard in the survey at the bottom of the article. If we didn’t include an option that is at the top of the list for you, feel free to write it in in the comments below.
Question 1: If you were making the decision, what would Ryan Day need to do to remain Ohio State’s head coach for next season?
I have gone on the record about my position as it pertains to Ryan Day’s job status. It is not a position I come to lightly, nor emotionally. While emotions are certainly involved in watching the continued crumbling of potential within the program that I love, to me, looking at Day’s routine failures in the most critical of situations is about objective of a data point you could possibly have. In all honesty, I have long wanted Ryan Day to be Ohio State’s head coach for his entire, multi-decade career. But his inability to maximize his team’s talent is unacceptable.
So, for me, I would not retain Day no matter the outcome of the season. Of course, I recognize that if the Buckeyes win the national title, there is no way that the head coach will lose his job (although I think he could decide to leave on his own in that case). However, if Day does end up sticking as the head coach for 2025, then I do think that two of the options in the survey are necessary.
I think that it is beyond time for Day to clean out the program’s remnants of Urban Meyer’s tenure. Don’t get me wrong, Larry Johnson, Mickey Marotti, and Mark Pantoni have been among the best in the business during their times in Columbus, but there have been obvious philosophical differences between Johnson and defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, and it just feels like it’s time for new voices when it comes to strength and conditioning and recruiting.
I actually argued for this following last season’s Cotton Bowl embarrassment as well. Day did end up taking most of the advice I gave in that article, so hopefully he will follow through with the rest this offseason if athletic director Ross Bjork decides to keep Day on staff.
At this point, I would also like to start over at offensive line. I think that Justin Frye did an admirable job getting the offensive line in shape to be competent following the injuries to Josh Simmons and Seth McLaughlin, but the overall development and recruitment at the position has been well below OSU standard.
If Day is going to stay, I think he also needs to be aggressive when the transfer portal opens next week. The Buckeyes need to lock in upgrades on the offensive line, because I don’t think that a championship-level line is on the roster for next year, and I wouldn’t mind seeing some help at linebacker and cornerback being brought in.
Question 2: What do you think Ohio State’s fate will be in the College Football Playoff?
While I might be in favor of the Buckeyes moving on from Ryan Day, I am not one of those fans who would ever root for the team to fail in order to bring about a coaching change. I will be completely on board the hype train as OSU heads into the CFP.
On Tuesday night, we got a little bit more clarity on where the Buckeyes would be in the 12-team bracket. It looks like it is nearly impossible for Ohio State to not play a first-round home game, but who knows what could happen if Conference Championship Weekend gets increasingly chaotic.
I’m not ready to make my prediction as to how far the Buckeyes will go in the playoff, but I still believe that if Day gets over his obsession of trying to be a “tough,” run-first team ignoring his roster’s strength, that OSU has the ability to win it all. Now let’s just hope the head coach can figure that out in time.
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