"This stuff's hard": Ryan Day tips his hat to Nick Saban and Urban Meyer after HOF announcement

Ryan Day will have the opportunity to win his first national title when the Ohio State Buckeyes face the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the College Football Playoff national championship game on Monday. He is trying to join his predecessor, Urban Meyer, in leading the Buckeyes to a title during the College Football Playoff era.

The Ohio State coach praised Meyer and Alabama Crimson Tide icon Nick Saban, who beat him in the 2021 CFP championship game, for being voted into the College Football Hall of Fame, which was announced on Wednesday.

With 10TV's Dom Tiberi on Sunday, Day said (Timestamp: 2:18):

"That first one was just different with COVID and all that, but you learn a lot. And going up against a great coach in Nick Saban, which he just got inducted into the Hall of Fame – or will be, just like Coach Meyer, which congratulations to both of them. The stuff's hard, and to see coaches like that and the way they operate.

"I had an opportunity to see how Coach Meyer operated and got a chance to go against Coach Saban and learn about kind of how he went about that and stayed in touch with him a little bit. And you just learn every time you go through it.

"That game was very, very unique for a lot of reasons, but every time you play in these games, you learn. You learn more and more, but ultimately, nothing that's happened in the past matters. Nothing that happened before. It's all about how we play in this game and how we execute."

Day spent the 2017 and 2018 seasons as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach on Meyer's staff. He served as acting head coach for three games in the final season before taking over as the full-time head coach the following year. The Buckeyes have a 69-10 record under his leadership; however, they have yet to win a national title.

Ryan Day addresses final matchup of the season

Ryan Day addressed the Ohio State Buckeyes' final matchup of the season in his interview with Dom Tiberi (Timestamp: 0:55):

"I think as a leader, it's your job to look out on the horizon and see what's coming. The soldiers are on the front line, and they're fighting the battle every day. When you saw this 16-game possibility or 17-game possibility in a long season, you know what's coming, and that's our job as coaches to make sure we look out in front and figure out what's coming. We've been working really hard, but now it's time to finish the job."

Day added that the Buckeyes got a strong send-off leaving Columbus and are looking to bring home the national title for their fanbase. If they are able to get the job done, it would mark the ninth title in program history and the first since 2014.