Ryan Patrick Day (born March 12, 1979) is an American football coach and former college football player. He is the 24th and current head football coach at Ohio State University, a position he has held since 2019. Day was also the acting head coach for the Ohio State Buckeyes for the first three games of the 2018 season. He attended the University of New Hampshire, where he played quarterback and linebacker for the Wildcats from 1998 to 2001 before he began his coaching career in 2002.
Playing career
Day attended Manchester Central High School in Manchester, New Hampshire. As a quarterback and defensive back, he was the state's Gatorade Player of the Year for his senior season. Day attended the University of New Hampshire. Playing for then-offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, Day set four career records at UNH, including completion percentage and touchdowns.
Coaching career
Early career
Day was the offensive coordinator for Temple in 2012, as well as the offensive coordinator for Boston College from 2013 to 2014. He was hired as the Philadelphia Eagles' quarterbacks coach on January 22, 2015. Then, in 2016, after his mentor Chip Kelly was relieved of his duties in Philadelphia, Day was hired in the same role by Kelly, who became the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. On January 3, 2017, Day was hired to replace co-offensive coordinator Tim Beck of the Ohio State Buckeyes. After being linked to the Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator position in January 2018, Day was promoted to offensive coordinator and primary play caller at Ohio State.
Ohio State
2018 season
On August 1, 2018, Day was named acting head coach at Ohio State when head coach Urban Meyer was placed on administrative leave when news came to light of Meyer's knowledge of events surrounding then-fired Zach Smith's domestic violence accusations made by Smith's estranged wife. Day won all three games during Meyer's absence. On December 4, 2018, Ohio State announced that Meyer would retire as head coach after the 2019 Rose Bowl and be replaced by Day on a full-time basis.
2019 season
In 2019, Day's first season as a full-time head coach, he led the Buckeyes to a perfect 12-0 regular season record, the Buckeyes' first undefeated regular season since 2013. Despite being predicted to finish second in the Big Ten East Division according to the 2019 Cleveland.com preseason poll, the Buckeyes clinched the division following their November 23 victory over Penn State, and secured a spot in the Big Ten Championship, which they would go on to win beat Wisconsin 34-21. The Buckeyes were named the number two seed in the College Football Playoff and lost to the Clemson Tigers in the Fiesta Bowl. On December 3, 2019, Coach Day was named the Dave McClain Coach of the Year by the media.
2020 season
Day's second season was significantly shortened due to the Big Ten Conference's policies regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. The Buckeyes' regular season was shortened from 12 games to 8 games, and then down to 5 because of cancellations due to the pandemic. After starting the season 4-0, Coach Day was forced to miss the December 5 game against Michigan State after testing positive for COVID-19, which the Buckeyes won, 52–12. What would have been Ohio State's sixth regular season game, against rival Michigan, was cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns within the Michigan program. This was the first time since the 1917 season that Ohio State and Michigan did not play each other. The Big Ten's coronavirus policies would have prevented the Buckeyes from playing in the 2020 Big Ten Football Championship Game, as they did not meet the six-game threshold put forth by the conference. However, on December 9, 2020, the Big Ten administrative council voted to remove the six game minimum, allowing Ohio State to advance to the conference championship. The Buckeyes played in the Big Ten Championship game on December 19, where they beat the Northwestern Wildcats 22-10. Ohio State was selected as the number 3 seed in the College Football Playoff, where they faced number 2 Clemson in the 2021 Sugar Bowl. Ohio State defeated Clemson 49-28, and advanced to the 2021 College Football Playoff National Championship, to face number 1 Alabama. The Buckeyes lost to Alabama 52-24.