Simple facts can convey profound truths. Such is the case before the Wisconsin Badgers face the Ohio State Buckeyes in the 2019 Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis on Saturday. Let’s put it very plainly: With Paul Chryst and Ryan Day representing their teams in Lucas Oil Stadium, Wisconsin and Ohio State are the only two Big Ten programs which have made the Big Ten Championship Game with more than one coach.
Wisconsin, of course, is the leader among Big Ten programs in this regard: Three separate coaches have led the Badgers to Indianapolis. No other Big Ten program can make that claim. Bret Bielema and Gary Andersen preceded Chryst, who — on his own — has made three Big Ten title games, as many as Michigan State’s Mark Dantonio. Only Urban Meyer has made more Big Ten title games (four) than Chryst.
Ryan Day enables Ohio State to be the only program other than Wisconsin which has placed multiple coaches in the Big Ten Championship Game. These two programs — UW and OSU — are the leaders in overall Big Ten title game appearances, and they are the only two with multiple coaches in this game. If that isn’t a strong indication of sustained quality as a program, nothing is.
What is also worth noting, as we assess the significance of Wisconsin and Ohio State reaching Indianapolis with multiple head coaches, is that while Ryan Day has been superb this season, he is doing this with Urban Meyer’s players. This doesn’t diminish what Day has done this year. Yet, it is an obvious challenge — and rite of passage — for head coaches at elite programs to move past successes with inherited talent, and arrive at a point when they can say they built their own successes.
Yes, Day’s successes in 2019 are his own to the extent that he has coached this team. He has occupied a leadership position. He has carried the responsibility of guiding Ohio State through a full season. Yet, we all know that it’s one thing to coach inherited talent to the top. Coaching your own talent to the top is the higher and fuller measure of coaching prowess.
Paul Chryst and Wisconsin have attained that. Ryan Day and Ohio State? We will have to wait until the next decade to truly find out.