Ryan Day surely knew the question was coming following his team’s most recent victory that put him into the college football history books.
By virtue of Ohio State’s 42-3 win over Minnesota, Day now has the highest winning percentage of any coach in college football history. Day, 46, has now won 88.2% of his games as Ohio State’s coach, surpassing former Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne as college football’s all-time leader in career winning percentage. However, he is not in the official NCAA record books just yet because NCAA requires a minimum of 10 years to earn a spot in its record book for this stat.
When asked about making history, Day joked about ending his coaching career on a high note.
“Glad you brought that up, because this is the last game I’ll ever be coaching at Ohio State,” he said with a smile. “I’m gonna hang it up and that’s it. I’m gonna do a walk off right now.”
To the chagrin of Ohio State’s opponents, Day was in fact joking.
“No, a long way to go,” he continued. “[The record] has everything to do with the players, the coaches in this place. When you recognize how long some of those coaches coached, and you recognize what they went through, the seasons and the different changes, you just can appreciate how long they coached. And, you know, some of these seasons here are like dog years at Ohio State, but but I’m just fortunate to be here.”
Now in his seventh full season at Ohio State, Day has won 75 of his 85 games as the Buckeyes’ coach. Last season, he joined Paul Brown, Woody Hayes, Jim Tressel and Urban Meyer as Buckeyes coaches who won at national title during their time in Columbus.
Day’s only Kryptonite at Ohio State has been Michigan, as he is 1-4 against the Buckeyes’ main rival. But after losing The Game last year, Ohio State has responded with nine straight wins that included becoming the first team to win a national title in college football’s expanded playoff format.
In the playoffs, Ohio State outscored their opponents 145-75, a dominant showing by a team that many left for dead after their loss to Michigan. Ohio State has continued to roll this season, outscoring their first five opponents 187-25. The Buckeyes’ offense is averaging over 37 points per game thus far, while the defense — led by former NFL coach Matt Patricia — has yet to allow a team to score over 10 points.
The Buckeyes’ current winning streak has not only put Day in the history books, but it’s cemented his place among the greatest coaches in Ohio State history.
And he’s not done yet.
“I know what the obligation is,” he said. “I know what the expectation is, and so do these players and coaches, so we’ll just keep swinging away.”
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