Day opened up on the pressures of being a highly scrutinized coach
Ohio State coach Ryan Day celebrated his team after the Buckeyes captured the 2025 College Football Playoff National Championship with a 34-23 win over Notre Dame on Monday. Despite losing a pair of regular-season games, the Buckeyes fought back from the 8-seed and blew past the competition en route to the program’s first title in a decade.
“After all the things that have been said throughout the year, these guys are going to be cemented as one of the best stories in Ohio State history and one of the best football teams ever,” Day said in his post-game press conference. “Only nine teams have ever done it and three in over 50 years. There was a point where not a lot of people had that vision, but these guys did and they saw it through. Ohio State might not be for everybody, but it’s for these guys and I’m really proud of them.”
The Buckeyes took control early during the win over Notre Dame and jumped out to a 31-7 third quarter lead. The Irish refused to go down easy and ultimately fought back to pull within eight points in the game’s waning minutes.
Facing third-and-11, though, Ohio State dialed up one of the biggest plays in program history when quarterback Will Howard found receiver Jeremiah Smith iso’d on a defensive back for a 56-yard completion. The gutsy call helped set up a 33-yard field goal to ice the game.
“We felt like we had an advantage with Jeremiah on that shot and we talked about it all week,” Day said. “We really hadn’t thrown one all game and it was like, you know what, game on the line, let’s just go. I just thought to myself, only one national championship, you only get one opportunity a year to do this, let’s just lay it on the line and put it out there and be aggressive. And that’s what we did.”
With the win, Day becomes only the third active coach with a national championship, joining Georgia’s Kirby Smart and Clemson’s Dabo Swinney. His win is only the third national championship at Ohio State since 1970, but he joins Jim Tressel (2002) and Urban Meyer (2014) as the third straight coach to capture a ring.
Day’s path to the title wasn’t easy. Despite a 70-10 career record, the Buckeyes stumbled on the big stages. There were four consecutive losses to Michigan. Ohio State failed to win a Big Ten title since the pandemic season in 2020. At one point, Ohio State lost six of seven games against top-five opponents. The 2024 squad expelled some of the demons. Ultimately, it ended with Day hoisting the trophy.
“God made it hard for a reason,” Day said. “You just never know what’s in your path along the way. But this game can give you the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. It can take you to your knees some days as a player and as a coach. I’ve been there before … if you surround yourself with great people, you’re resilient and you believe in the guys around you and you just keep fighting and putting one foot in front of the other, you give yourself another chance.
“You think back when we were in the stadium last time, I couldn’t quite come to grips for a while with why we just didn’t quite finish that game against Georgia. But I understand now. It all makes sense. And here we are. I couldn’t feel better.”
