ESPN REPORT: IF NOT RYAN DAY, WHO ELSE? Controversy rocks college football as OHIO State Head Coach, Ryan Day Named as the best coach in college football by ESPN’s Bill Connelly
College football has never been a quiet landscape. Its traditions are deep, its rivalries fierce, and its narratives constantly shifting. And yet, few statements have caused such a ripple across the sport as ESPN’s Bill Connelly naming Ohio State’s Ryan Day the best coach in college football in his recent offseason rankings. In a world where names like Nick Saban, Kirby Smart, and Dabo Swinney have long dominated the top tier, Connelly’s crowning of Day as college football’s best didn’t just turn heads—it stirred controversy.
Ryan Day, 46, has been the head coach of the Buckeyes since 2019, stepping in following the retirement of Urban Meyer. In those five seasons, Day has compiled a staggering record, developed NFL-caliber talent at an elite rate, and kept Ohio State in perennial College Football Playoff contention. But for many outside the Columbus bubble, the title of “best coach in the sport” still seemed far-fetched—if not outright inflammatory.
Yet Connelly, whose work is rooted in deep statistical analysis and SP+ metrics, stood firm. His reasoning? Sustained excellence, adaptability, offensive innovation, and the difficult context of being expected to win every game in a hyper-competitive environment—and still doing it more often than not. Still, critics argue that Day’s tenure has been marked by missed opportunities, painful losses to Michigan, and the lack of a national championship. So the question echoes: If not Ryan Day, who else?
Day’s record since taking over the Buckeyes is undeniably elite. In his first full season in 2019, he led Ohio State to a 13-1 record, a Big Ten Championship, and a narrow loss to Clemson in the College Football Playoff semifinal. The following year, during the pandemic-altered 2020 season, Day brought the Buckeyes to the national title game after a dominant win over Clemson, only to fall to Alabama’s juggernaut in the final. In 2021 and 2022, Day’s squads were again among the best in the country, despite back-to-back losses to Michigan that would test the patience and faith of an intensely demanding fan base.
And yet, the consistency is unmatched. Day is 56-8 as head coach of Ohio State. He’s 39-3 in Big Ten regular-season games. He’s recruited at a top-five national level every year he’s been in charge. He’s developed quarterbacks at a rate rivaled by almost no one—Justin Fields, C.J. Stroud, and now the promising Will Howard pipeline. And perhaps most impressively, he has maintained excellence during a time of major upheaval in college football: NIL, the transfer portal, playoff expansion, and conference realignment.
Bill Connelly’s data-driven approach doesn’t rely on narrative—it focuses on performance against expectation. And by those metrics, Day often exceeds what even elite coaches are expected to achieve. But the outcry wasn’t about analytics—it was about championships, the coin of the realm in modern college football. Fans and media from the South pointed immediately to Kirby Smart, who has turned Georgia into a two-time national champion and seemingly invincible SEC powerhouse. Others shouted for Saban, even in retirement, or Dabo Swinney for his twin national titles. Some even made the case for Washington’s Kalen DeBoer, now at Alabama, or Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh, whose teams beat Day in 2021 and 2022 and finally won a national title in 2023.
But Connelly’s argument wasn’t about trophies alone. He pointed to the inherent difficulty of Ryan Day’s job—being expected to win not just every Saturday, but to win with style. There is no rebuilding year at Ohio State. There is no patience. Losing one regular season game can spark a firestorm of criticism, as seen after the 2023 season’s lone loss to Michigan. That kind of pressure cooker burns out most coaches, yet Day has navigated it with remarkable poise, continuing to evolve Ohio State’s offensive identity while shoring up weaknesses on defense through savvy hires like Jim Knowles.
The reaction across the sport has been a mix of disbelief, anger, and reluctant acknowledgment. SEC fans, who are often quick to anoint their own, balked at the idea that Day had surpassed Smart in stature. Smart, after all, has beaten both Alabama and Michigan, and hoisted the national trophy twice. But Georgia’s postseason losses and occasional offensive struggles have opened the door to debate.
What separates Day in Connelly’s view isn’t just win-loss records or raw talent—it’s consistency at an impossibly high level. The Buckeyes under Day have never looked like a team in decline. Even in their rare losses, they’ve been right there, usually a single play or a controversial call away. In the 2022 CFP semifinal against Georgia, Day coached what many considered a masterpiece—an offensive masterclass that came within one missed field goal of beating the eventual champions. Ohio State didn’t win that night, but it was clear: the Buckeyes could go toe-to-toe with anyone.
What’s more, Day’s recruiting reach continues to grow. The 2025 class is shaping up to be among the best in school history, with top-tier talent on both sides of the ball. The quarterback room is again loaded, the offensive line retooled, and the defense appears deep and aggressive. While other programs have had down years or rebuilding cycles, Ohio State has remained one of the few constants at the sport’s summit.
Still, perception matters in college football. And for many fans, especially those who live and breathe the Michigan rivalry, Ryan Day’s record against the Wolverines will always be the biggest metric. Losing three straight to Michigan was unthinkable just a few years ago. The pressure intensified, with some even calling for Day’s job after the 2023 loss in Ann Arbor. But Connelly and others argue that those critics are missing the broader picture: Michigan’s recent dominance was part of a perfect storm—veteran rosters, elite defenses, and a maturing Harbaugh system that finally found its footing. Day, meanwhile, was playing the long game. And in 2024, Ohio State has the most talented roster in the country, including key transfers and returning stars.
The upcoming season may well be the definitive moment in Day’s career. With Michigan reloading after Harbaugh’s departure to the NFL, and with Alabama entering a new era post-Saban, the college football landscape is shifting. Ohio State sits poised to take control. Anything less than a playoff appearance, and probably a championship game berth, will be seen as a failure.
Which makes Connelly’s proclamation all the more provocative. He didn’t wait for Day to win it all. He named him the best now—on the cusp, not after the climb. It’s a vote of confidence not only in Day’s past performance but in his trajectory.
If not Ryan Day, who else? That’s the question Connelly dared to ask. And when measured against the criteria that go beyond the trophy case—sustained excellence, adaptability, player development, cultural command—there is a compelling case to be made. Not bulletproof, but persuasive. While coaches like Smart and Harbaugh have recent titles, they’ve also had valleys, moments of chaos, or internal disarray. Day’s tenure has been cleaner, more controlled, and built for the long haul.
The debate isn’t going away. And it shouldn’t. This is what makes college football electric—the passion, the partisanship, the endless argument. Connelly threw gasoline on the fire with his ranking, but in doing so, he forced the sport to take a longer look at a coach whose achievements are often underappreciated.
Ryan Day may not yet have the national championship ring that cements legacies, but what he’s built at Ohio State—consistently dominant teams, record-setting offenses, NFL-ready talent, and elite recruiting pipelines—makes him more than worthy of the crown. Whether the college football world is ready to admit it is another matter entirely.
For now, one thing is clear: Ryan Day isn’t just surviving the most pressure-packed job in college football. He’s thriving in it. And if he lifts the national championship trophy in January, there won’t be a question anymore—just a coronation.
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