Lou Holtz still isn’t sold on Ohio State — or Ryan Day. Nearly two years after sparking a feud that drew a fiery rebuttal from the Buckeyes’ coach, the Hall of Fame coach is once again questioning the stature of the program, this time after its 14-7 season-opening win against preseason No. 1 Texas this past Saturday.
“You remember me telling you, I don’t think Ohio State’s a great football team,” Holtz said in an interview with Outkick. “I know their schedule is very, very good, but when you’re at home and you’re outgained by well over 100 yards, you just can’t look at it and say, ‘OK, we’re great. We won the game.’ They are 1-0 and that’s the objective they had going in that game, but they’re not a great football team. I would not be overwhelmed about facing Ohio State.”
Holtz did credit the Buckeyes’ defense under new coordinator Matt Patricia, who replaced Jim Knowles, but stopped short of offering much else in the way of praise. Instead, he framed the reigning national champions as a team with more to prove.
The 88-year-old Holtz, who guided Notre Dame to the 1988 national championship, also leaned on his Ohio roots and the Michigan rivalry, recalling his days as an assistant under Woody Hayes. The Wolverines have won four straight against Ohio State, their longest streak in the rivalry since the 1920s.
“I think Michigan could be a very, very good football team,” Holtz said. “Lord knows, Michigan better not beat Ohio State again.”
Holtz has been a recurring critic of Day and the Buckeyes since 2023, when his pregame remarks ahead of Ohio State’s dramatic win at Notre Dame prompted Day’s impassioned defense of his team in a nationally televised postgame interview.
Lou Holtz’s disrespect breaks Ryan Day out of his shell as Ohio State toughens up for playoff run
Dennis Dodd
“I’d like to know where Lou Holtz is right now,” Day said on NBC. “What he said about our team, I cannot believe. This is a tough team right here. We’re proud to be from Ohio. It’s always been Ohio against the world. And it’ll continue to be Ohio against the world. But I’ll tell you what, I love those kids and we got a tough team.”
Holtz later apologized to Marcus Freeman for dragging Notre Dame into the feud but stood by his critique of the Buckeyes. The back-and-forth resurfaced last January when Ohio State defeated the Irish in the College Football Playoff national championship game.
Even then, Holtz said his congratulatory letter to Day went unanswered.
“Ryan Day can be Ryan Day and do whatever he wants,” Holtz said. “I did write him a congratulatory letter, but I never heard back from him. I’m sure he could write, but in any event he did not answer the letter, but that’s his alternative. And he’s obviously a good coach, he’s a good recruiter, he’s a good coach. You look at his win-loss record, it’s really tremendous. But let’s not get overwhelmed, because the Big Ten doesn’t have that many great football teams in it this year, but we’ll find out.”
Despite Holtz’s skepticism, the Buckeyes have once again put themselves in prime position. Their win against Texas vaulted them back to No. 1 in both the AP Top 25 and the Coaches Poll, reinforcing their place as the team everyone else in college football is chasing.
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