While Michigan fans and brass were concerned and confused about head coach Jim Harbaugh openly flirting with several NFL opportunities, Ohio State fans began to question if head coach Ryan Day might have thoughts of heading to the NFL at some point in the near future as well.
It seems every year, we hear Day’s name mentioned casually when NFL jobs come open, but this past season, the whispers were a little louder up in Chicago. At the end of the day, those reports seem to have been little to nothing, but still, Day has NFL experience and is seen as a guy that could excel in the NFL.
So, who can blame Ohio State fans for wondering where his mind is. Day touched on that in an interview with the Big Ten Network this past week. And yeah, in case you were wondering, he’s pretty happy in Columbus, as is his family.
“In this profession — in this world right now — if you’re not winning, they’re going to talk about replacing you,” Day told the Big Ten Network. “If you do well, they’re going to talk about maybe you going somewhere else, so there’s always going to be talk like that.
“I love Ohio State. I love this place. My family loves it here. I tell recruits all the time, if I was to go take another job, I’d be going by myself because my family’s not leaving Columbus. And that’s the truth. They love it here.
“We’ve built — in the last couple years — some recruiting classes where we’re very proud of our culture, and guys like to be here. We think that we’ve recruited really well and we have some really good talent, so the future is extremely bright here. We’ve brought in great people, so this is the best place in the country to be the head football coach. I love it here, and that’s kind of the conversations we have.”
Ryan Day: “I love Ohio State. And that's the truth. This is the best place in the country to be the head football coach. I love it here.”
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Those aren’t vague comments at all that leave a crack open, but ones that make it very clear that Day has no designs of looking to the NFL, or anywhere else for that matter. Of course, things can change quickly in the high-stakes affair that is the coaching profession of big-time American football, but for now, this is about as reassuring as you can get.
On to preparing for the season and making Harbaugh sorry that no single NFL team wanted to hire a guy who thinks he hit a home run after finally getting on base for the first time.
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