"Not for the faint of heart": When $20M worth Ryan Day opened up on the true nature of Ohio State job

Ryan Day is one win away from delivering his first championship at Ohio State. The road hasn’t been easy for the Buckeyes’ head coach. He was considered to be on the hot seat only a few weeks ago after losing to Michigan for a fourth straight year. Now he is on the threshold of a national title.

With the Ohio State Buckeyes set to face the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the CFP Championship Game on Monday night, we go back in time to before the season started and how the $20 million OSU head coach, as per Celebrity Net Worth, has managed the constant pressure of coaching in Columbus.

Sitting down with Fox analyst Joel Klatt in July, Day considered his competitive nature to be the driving force under tough circumstances, such as the ones found in Ohio State, where there is an expectation to win every game.

“C.J. Stroud says it the best. He says, ‘Pressure is a privilege’. And that means you are relevant. And that’s kind of the way I’ve always lived my life. You want it all on the line. And it is on the line every week here. It’s on the line every day here”, Day said.

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The job has also forced the Ohio State head coach to develop an analytic view of how things are going, forcing him to make the difficult decisions coaches have to make for the better of the program.

“This job is not for the faint of heart. You gotta make hard decisions. And for somebody who takes relationships very, very serious, you gotta make some hard calls. But there’s a lot riding on it and you got to make those hard calls,” he added.

Ryan Day’s decision to give up playcalling pays off

Chip Kelly took over play-calling duties for the Buckeyes this season. - Source: Imagn

One of those tough decisions Ryan Day was talking about was giving up play-calling duties to new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly. The head coach had been involved in the Buckeyes’ playcalling since 2017 but decided to give it up before the start of this season.

"As you move up, you've got to give up and that wasn't easy for me," Day said. "I feel like the time is right, now. With the transfer portal, with NIL, it was more and more energy and time that needs to be focused on the players in those areas. I also think that it's going to allow me the opportunity to be more present with the team, especially later in the season."

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With Kelly focusing on playcalling, Day was able to get a solid recruiting class and get top contributors like Cody Simon, Jack Sawyer and JT Tuimoloau. He also lured defensive back Caleb Downs and quarterback Will Howard to Columbus in the transfer portal.

Most importantly, Kelly has been spot-on during the CFP, leading routs against Tennessee and Oregon, and getting big plays in important moments against the Texas Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl.

The Buckeyes face Notre Dame for the national championship on Monday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta at 7:30 p.m. ET.