"It's part of the story of the year": Ohio State HC Ryan Day discusses how the Michigan loss was a turning point for his team

Ryan Day led Ohio State to the College Football Playoff national championship on Monday night. The Buckeyes defeated Notre Dame 34-23 in the title game at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Jan. 20, marking a dramatic ending to the season for the program.

Ohio State entered the playoffs amid intense criticism. The team suffered a 13-10 loss to Michigan in the regular season finale, leading to an uproar from the Columbus fanbase. However, this was the turning point for the Buckeyes. During his appearance on the “Dan Patrick Show” on Friday, Ryan Day said:

"I think it's part of the story of the year," Day said about the loss to Michigan as a turning point. "I felt like this team was close anyway. I thought we were galvanized, but when you go through something like that, you have to regroup and figure out, most importantly, what happened and how do we get these things fixed."

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Ryan Day’s wife narrates the ordeal the family went through after the Michigan loss

The rivalry between Michigan and Ohio State is one of the most intense in the world of college football. Losing such an important matchup for the fourth consecutive time wasn't pleasing to the fans. This resulted in a lot of negative reactions to the coach and his family.

In an interview with Columbus Dispatch, Ryan Day's wife, Nina Day, narrates the ordeal the family faced for a month in the hands of the Buckeyes fans. The period was one of the darkest moments in their life.

“The time between the Michigan game and the Tennessee game was as low and dark as you could possibly imagine,” Nina Day said. “Extremely negative. Unprecedented hate. They told me multiple times to have Ryan follow in his father’s footsteps and kill himself.

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Ryan Day recalls a special moment after the national championship victory

Winning the national championship was a way for Ryan Day to vindicate himself after a period of intense backlash on him and his family by the fans. The coach noted on the “Dan Patrick Show” on Friday that meeting his family after the game was a special moment.

"That was a special moment," Day said, recalling seeing his family after the game. "I'll always remember just the fact that you can look at your family and wife in the eyes and say, 'Hey, we did this thing together.' They did. They were a big part of it.”

Ohio State had a dominant run in the playoffs, defeating top teams convincingly on the way to the title. They ended up looking like the team many had anticipated during the offseason, capitalizing on the wealth of talents within the team.