HC Ryan Day (2019 B1G Media COY)

[1926Buckeyes]

Moved this here from the CJ thread because it's all about Day.

Ryan Day's first four years as head coach (2019 to 2022) seem a Hell of a lot like John Cooper's four best years as head coach (1995 to 1998). Day has time to take his game to the next level, but will he? And if he doesn't, how many years will you (not just Dryden, but everyone reading this thread) accept of almost being the best?

No one is going to accept 3 losses in a row to TTUN. He's on a very short leash and I think he knows that too.

Not sure about almost being the best. There is more than enough talent to win an NC, but obviously there's a random component that we know all too well. The defense has not been fixed, but he went a long way when he made drastic changes. If he looks at himself in the mirror as well and hands over at least majority play calling to Wilson/another OC or brings in someone who will challenge his system and add new concepts, that lends him a lot of good will in my eyes.

The offense is his baby, though, so I'm worried he won't let it go.

Too the contrary of people here who say Day doesn’t get the rivalry, I think he more than gets it. See the “this is why you came here” snippet.

I think he was so hyper focused on not losing, that he puckered when things got rough, just like Cooper. The TTUN player on the sideline saying we knew who they were was eerily reminiscent of the same comments from TTUN players in the Cooper games.

There’s a difference between playing to win and playing not to lose. Day needs to play to win.

Yeah I only witnesses the Cooper years from 96-00, but Day doesn't come across as Cooper to me. That doesn't mean he will get it figured out, but I don't think he or the team was unprepared for the game or thought it was just another big game. They obviously weren't prepared to be down in the 4th, though, and that's all that matters.

 

[dragurd]

Tired of finesse/gimmick ball. TTUN put it to the Buckeyes 2 years in a row and it wasn't even close in the 2nd half.. I'm not looking forward to another Jon Cooper era.

Better change the recruiting and coaching culture.

It's not gimmick ball. And for everyone calling it finesse we ran down their throats in the first half...

Did day revert when things got tight yes. Also the entire team played so tight I'm not sure a grain of rice fits up there asses. He needs to emphasize the game but also not have them get tight if it's close

 

[RuGettinIt]

Moved this here from the CJ thread because

Yeah I only witnesses the Cooper years from 96-00, but Day doesn't come across as Cooper to me. That doesn't mean he will get it figured out, but I don't think he or the team was unprepared for the game or thought it was just another big game. They obviously weren't prepared to be down in the 4th, though, and that's all that matters.

Lived through them all. Cooper had chances to win a number of the games and certainly the talent to do so. He pissed down his leg so many times it was unreal. Had that “oh shit” look on his face like here we go again. Michigan players knew it and called it out.

 

[LordJeffBuck]

These kids poured their hearts out on Saturday. The coaches and players put a lot into this one and they came up short and their hearts hurt like ours.

"Pouring their hearts out" seems like a synonym for "participation trophies" to me. You win or you lose. Nothing else really matters in a game (especially in The Game).

I’d take those 4 losses! Much better than having losses to below average Purdue and Iowa teams…

Would you take those four losses over having a loss to a below average Virginia Tech team....?

 

[AKAK]

Good post.
Everyone is excited by Riola and rightly so.
But he simply isn’t capable of being any threat whatsoever with his feet.
Don’t I’ve ever seen a D1 prospect at qb that looks slower.
If we didn’t have McCord and Brown in the pipeline or they were a year younger I’d go after the Ga Tech qb that just hit the portal.

Yeah, except speed really doesn't have much to do with what we need. Go watch his Maxpreps '21 highlights. 6th or so play, he sees the space, pulls the ball down and lowers his shoulder and runs a dude over at the goal line, and gets up and flexes -- oddly, that's about all I need to see. We don't need a dual threat QB, we need a guy who understands that he needs to keep the option when the read says to keep them, and who runs enough to pick up free yards when everything is covered. (He looks like he moves well enough in the pocket to me, but no, I'm not confusing him with Michael Vick). He looks confident running with the ball (Unlike 2 of our last 3 guys). Question is, will he continue to be coached to do that. I mean, Patrick Mahomes runs when he has to and he makes a couple bucks, shit Aaron Rogers runs when he has to... (or at least did for most of his career)..... I mean, this isn't about "Oh, look what Lamar Jackson is doing" (Its not even about what Justin Fields is doing in Chicago, obviously not optimal). Its about having a guy who will run and is basically competent doing it. Raiola is a baseball player too, so presumably he knows how to slide. (weird thing to point out, but some of them don't)

All that said, we have McCord and Brown here, we have the transfer portal, lets see what they do.

 

[cdiddy70]

good post AKAK.
I was basing my opinion off 1 game I saw on ESPN.
He is a massive kid. Early Big Ben would be good enough.
Having the mindset to take it when needed is massive.

 

[Bucklion]

After digesting what I can of the turdburger from Saturday, the most obvious thing to me is what has been said many times...Day needs to give up calling plays. Immediately and permanently. The reason I say that is because it looked like he and Knowles were coaching 2 different games with 2 different philosophies. Day called a pretty conservative game, while Knowles was calling zero blitzes like they won him free tacos. One side was coaching a 24-17 B1G game, the other a 45-42 Big XII shootout where if you get 1-2 stops and maybe a turnover, you live with giving up big plays because you think your offense is also going to pile up points. The whole philosophical underpinnings just seemed discombobulated from the start. And that can't happen in big games.

I work in a field where, as you move up the ranks, you basically have to give up what you've gotten really good at to let someone else do it that's probably not as good at it as you, in order to go and do newer things that you aren't as good at as the more established people are. That's hard. That's intimidating. You always want to fall back on what you think/know you're good at. But you have to do it, or else you won't get proficient, let alone good, at the advanced concepts and tasks that the higher job requires. It's the same in coaching, which is why so many coordinators fail as head coaches. They don't learn any of the intricacies to master the head coaching part, they just want to keep calling plays because "that's what got me here". It's a different job, with different requirements, and you are judged differently. Great head coaches are not standing over there holding multi-colored playsheets. They just aren't. They are managing the entire team, both sides of the ball, all positions, all philosophies, all game plans, everything. They delegate the other stuff, because they have to. If Day wants to be a successful HC, then he has to start trying to be a successful HC, not an OC with more responsibility he doesn't want. It's a hell of a leap of faith to have to make, but all the great ones have done it.

 

[1926Buckeyes]

This is random, but part of me wonders if the team looked so subdued in the second half because they didn't expect to win, but to dominate and get their revenge in the way they wanted.

After the bye, we saw this team sputter and get into bad spots on the road, only to claw their way back and win by double digits while making big plays. But in those games, all they cared about was winning. Win in whatever way you needed to get back to The Game, and then you get your dessert. But, the dessert in this rivalry is winning, not winning by X amount of points.

 

[sg86]

This is random, but part of me wonders if the team looked so subdued in the second half because they didn't expect to win, but to dominate and get their revenge in the way they wanted.

After the bye, we saw this team sputter and get into bad spots on the road, only to claw their way back and win by double digits while making big plays. But in those games, all they cared about was winning. Win in whatever way you needed to get back to The Game, and then you get your dessert. But, the dessert in this rivalry is winning, not winning by X amount of points.

I think they gave up big plays and then everyone got panicky and just tried not to fuck up instead of trying to win the game.

 

[DubCoffman62]

I think they gave up big plays and then everyone got panicky and just tried not to fuck up instead of trying to win the game.

I remember when I used to play racquetball, there were matches I'd be up like 15-1 and my opponent would come back, and once they got close I would sometimes make the stupidest of mistakes and lose.

 

[OHSportsFan]

After digesting what I can of the turdburger from Saturday, the most obvious thing to me is what has been said many times...Day needs to give up calling plays. Immediately and permanently. The reason I say that is because it looked like he and Knowles were coaching 2 different games with 2 different philosophies. Day called a pretty conservative game, while Knowles was calling zero blitzes like they won him free tacos. One side was coaching a 24-17 B1G game, the other a 45-42 Big XII shootout where if you get 1-2 stops and maybe a turnover, you live with giving up big plays because you think your offense is also going to pile up points. The whole philosophical underpinnings just seemed discombobulated from the start. And that can't happen in big games.

So my latest thought today keeps going back to the 4th downs (or even 3rd downs) that Day continues to mismanage and somehow became a rollover.

It’s like all of a sudden, Day thought this game could be a throw back, field-position and FG type of game. Maybe he trusted his shiny new D too much. Maybe he didn’t trust his O.

Say what you will about Lincoln Riley’s teams but at least he embraces the shootout style of today’s game and empties the clip every offensive drive. It’s full-go, hang 50 and keep up. Day and Co. seem content to dilly dally with no urgency or killstreak.

 

[buckeyemania11]

So my latest thought today keeps going back to the 4th downs (or even 3rd downs) that Day continues to mismanage and somehow became a rollover.

It’s like all of a sudden, Day thought this game could be a throw back, field-position and FG type of game. Maybe he trusted his shiny new D too much. Maybe he didn’t trust his O.

Say what you will about Lincoln Riley’s teams but at least he embraces the shootout style of today’s game and empties the clip every offensive drive. It’s full-go, hang 50 and keep up. Day and Co. seem content to dilly dally with no urgency or killstreak.

Trusting a defense that was getting torched with guys wide open down field would suggest one isn't a good coach.

 

[Gunlife]

So my latest thought today keeps going back to the 4th downs (or even 3rd downs) that Day continues to mismanage and somehow became a rollover.

It’s like all of a sudden, Day thought this game could be a throw back, field-position and FG type of game. Maybe he trusted his shiny new D too much. Maybe he didn’t trust his O.

Say what you will about Lincoln Riley’s teams but at least he embraces the shootout style of today’s game and empties the clip every offensive drive. It’s full-go, hang 50 and keep up. Day and Co. seem content to dilly dally with no urgency or killstreak.

In his defense, who the fuck thought it was possible to have 5 tds over 40yds put up on you. Some say he did have a fake punt setup perfectly, but the long snapper fucked up.

I do remember in 2019 all he talked about was being "BOLD" and he coached like it.

 

[Poe McKnoe]

So my latest thought today keeps going back to the 4th downs (or even 3rd downs) that Day continues to mismanage and somehow became a rollover.

It’s like all of a sudden, Day thought this game could be a throw back, field-position and FG type of game. Maybe he trusted his shiny new D too much. Maybe he didn’t trust his O.

Say what you will about Lincoln Riley’s teams but at least he embraces the shootout style of today’s game and empties the clip every offensive drive. It’s full-go, hang 50 and keep up. Day and Co. seem content to dilly dally with no urgency or killstreak.

It helps that Lincoln Riley is the best offensive play caller in college football, and has been for a while. It has a lot to do with misdirection and building play calls of previous calls.

And Riley has almost singularly relied on top tier transfer QBs that can run.

And I could not name one Lincoln Riley RB…anywhere he’s been…except Trey Sermon.

 

[sg86]

Ryan Day coaches like his team is in a vacuum. There's no contextual awareness.

He doesn't understand that a couple times a game you need to call something you don't necessarily want to like a QB draw or an RPO or just encourage Stroud to scramble on broken plays to make it easier to do the things you want to do. Guys like Riley get that. You don't have to do it often. Just once or twice to keep the defense honest.