"All those people can go shove it" - Ohio State OL defends Ryan Day after national championship win

Ohio State coach Ryan Day silenced his critics with a dominant national championship win over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Monday. The Buckeyes swaggered through the College Football Playoffs, blowing out the Tennessee Volunteers, Oregon Ducks, Texas Longhorns and finally, the Fighting Irish.

During his postgame news conference, Ohio State offensive tackle Josh Fryar showed his emotions at winning the natty. He passionately defended Day for the criticism that he has received this season.

"There's no words for it," Fryar said. "I just wanna thank the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for everything he did for this team. We had to go to Oregon, play an away game at Oregon, we had to go to Texas in Texas and we had to beat Texas and now we're national champions. What are they gonna say about us now? That's all I got.

"I grew up in Indiana, I was three hours away from Columbus, I've always watched the Buckeyes, always loved the Buckeyes. I'm so happy to do this for the state, Ohio State fans, everybody in the state of Ohio, I'm just happy for them."

He added:

"Excited we just won a national championship. Relieved cause all those doubters talking about our team, talking about Coach Day, all those people can go shove it. That's what I gotta say."

Ryan Day hailed for steering natty run after difficult season

During Tuesday's segment of "Josh Pate's College Football Show," CBS Sports analyst Josh Pate recalled the arduous journey that Ryan Day and his team have traveled. They went from the shocking 13-10 loss to the Michigan Wolverines in December to becoming national champions.

"I sat there along with the rest of you, some of you were in the Shoe (Horseshoe) for the Michigan game, a lot of you watched it on TV," Pate said. "And I'm watching at the end, thinking, 'This is utter devastation.'

"I mean, when you consider what the expectations of this team are, when you consider what is invested and when you consider the standards and the expectation level, and when you consider what the talking points around Ryan Day were, this was utter devastation."

He then added:

"And I don't think no matter how much you pay someone, there is a duplication for the ability to take an organization, much less yourself, and get it back off the deck and to end up winning this thing," Pate said. "They end up beating five top-five AP teams, ultra impressive."

From having to hire security to protect his family due to threats from Ohio State fans to becoming the first coach to win the national title for the Buckeyes since 2014, Ryan Day has certainly transformed his fortunes in Columbus.