Breaking news:Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day signed 20 years contract extension ahead..

Breaking news:Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day signed 20 years contract extension ahead..

The Players’ Tribune

One More, Then ForeverOne More, Then Forever

Ohio State University

I was Ryan Day’s first commit as a head coach back in 2019. I’m from Pickerington, Ohio, and I won’t lie — I was an “easy” recruit. Most of my dreams as a kid involved being a Buckeye. When I was like five or six, my dad would come home from a long day of work, and he’d be so tired. But I wouldn’t even let him sit on the couch until we’d gone outside with the football. I’d beg him for “10 minutes,” but of course that was a scam. We’d run routes, and I’d pretend I’m James Laurinaitis making these game-saving interceptions (I’d have his 33 jersey on most days). Or I’d be Troy Smith, and I’m throwing bombs across the yard. You get the picture. You let an Ohio kid outside with a football, 10 minutes turns into two hours real quick.

I lived and died with Ohio State football. 2014, when we got upset by Virginia Tech, I took that so hard. I was 12, and you couldn’t tell me anything after, I was so mad and so down about it. I remember the bus ride to school that next Monday, we were basically giving out condolences — a bunch of sixth graders just looking at each other and being like, Hey, man. I’m sorry for your loss. And when we ended up flipping the script that same season, and going on our playoff run?? “85 yards through the heart of the South” … honestly, when Zeke broke through that line against Bama, I’d never been so happy in my life. I just started yelling at the TV in our family room, like fully yelling, as if Zeke could hear me or something. We still had to win the championship game, but that play felt like The Moment. I knew those guys were getting it done.

And then I pretty much spent the rest of my childhood wishing I could press fast-forward — just wanting to smash that button and get it over with already, so I could be at the part where I’m playing on Saturdays at the Shoe. And somehow it all worked out, and I became a good enough player to where I actually ended up getting that opportunity. So while a lot of people like to talk about how I was “Ryan Day’s first commit,” that’s probably not the commitment of mine that tells you much about Coach. Because the truth is, I was coming to Columbus no matter what.

The commitment of mine that actually tells you about Coach — it’s the one I made a year ago.

It’s the one a lot of us made.

Ian Johnson/Icon Sportswire via AP

My first three years here, there were definitely ups and downs. As a freshman and a sophomore, I didn’t play up to my potential at all. It’s not some original story about why. I think I just got lost in the lights a bit. I still had some maturing to do. And it was during those rough first couple of years that I saw what Coach Day is about. Because it’s easy to preach family on the recruiting trail, and it’s easy to preach family when things are going well. But when things aren’t going as well — that’s when you’ll see a coach’s true character.

In those first seasons where I was struggling, I appreciated how Coach didn’t treat me like I was just some underachieving player. Honestly, he treated me more like a son. He’d let me know when he was disappointed, and when there was something I needed to work on. But he’d never try to “prove a point” with me by being one of these dictator types — he always made me feel like a human being. It felt like his criticisms were about my progress, not his ego. And it worked, you know? The culture he’s put in place here, it’s a big reason why I was able to turn the corner as a junior, and start to reach my potential.

And I think that same culture has shown up in how we’ve been able to handle our ups and downs on a team level. A lot of high-profile coaches, I think it’s almost like they’re playing the “head coach” character in a football movie. It’s a lot of big speeches when the cameras are rolling, and a lot of focus on themselves when the team has success. But you get a feeling they’re not that same guy when the cameras stop rolling. And if the team falls short, it’s never about them — they’ll throw their players under the bus no problem. Man, it’s hard to even put into words how much Coach Day is the total opposite of that. In public and private, I’m telling you, he is the exact same dude. And maybe that doesn’t make great TV or whatever, but for us as players, we know there’s no act with him. And that means a lot.

It also means a lot to know how much he has our backs in the bad moments. Honestly, probably too much. The amount of s*** that Coach has taken on our behalf is insane. I remember he was telling us about how, after one of our losses to The Team Up North, he had to take his son and his daughters out of school — because not only were kids saying stuff about them and their dad and how they need to leave town and they’re not welcome here, but actual teachers were as well. Hearing that made us so angry. But I also think a reason that stuff has been able to happen, it’s because of how high Coach’s character is. He refuses to hang his players out to dry. In the good times, he wants the spotlight on us. In the bad times, he wants the spotlight on himself. And it’s definitely unacceptable, the amount of toxic bulls*** he’s had to deal with over the years. But if you’re wondering why his players play so damn hard for him — well, there you go.