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Would Ohio State fire Ryan Day? A better question to ask: Would Day even want this job?

Updated Dec. 1, 2024, 5:25 p.m. 1 min read

COLUMBUS, Ohio Its an image that will remain in Ohio State lore for many years to come: Head coach Ryan Day, minutes after his No.

2 Buckeyes lost, inexplicably , to unranked Michigan 13-10, in a daze as players from both teams fought at midfield .

He asked a player returning to the sideline, What happened? Advertisement Its a big-picture question that will remain in lore, too.

Day is 66-10 and has had four top-five finishes in the coaches poll in five seasons as Ohio State s full-time head coach.

Ohio State is one of three teams to finish in the AP top 10 each of the past five years, along with Alabama and Georgia .

The Buckeyes have the second-best win percentage since 2019, behind Georgia.

Day has put his team in the College Football Playoff three times since 2019; hes made a New Years Six bowl his other seasons, and that streak will continue this year.

It is a truly remarkable record.

Also, Ryan Day, your whole team is in the midst of a brawl, and youre on the sideline asking what happened? Huh!? Get your butt on the field and command your players go to the locker room.

pic.twitter.com/fjiZGNmIfW Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) November 30, 2024 But Day is 1-4 against Michigan and the loser of four in a row in The Game.

And at this moment, it feels like the only ones who actually want him remaining in Columbus are Michigan fans.

Losing to Michigan multiple times? Its one of the worst things thats ever happened to me in my life, quite honestly, other than losing my father and a few other things, Day said earlier in the week during his coachs show, before Saturdays loss.

And for my family, (its) the worst thing thats happened.

So, we can never have that happen again.

Ever.

And on Saturday, it wasnt just losing that stung (Days first loss to an unranked team).

It was the worst Michigan team the Buckeyes had faced in more than a decade.

It was a Wolverines team with an inept offense, and without its best players: tight end Colston Loveland and cornerback Will Johnson .

GO DEEPER Meet 2024 Ohio State, the unhappiest Playoff team in college football history The Buckeyes 10 points were their lowest output of the season.

Their two elite tailbacks were unable to run the ball.

Their special teams melted down.

Their quarterback, Will Howard , threw two interceptions; quarterback play has been Days specialty and was what brought him to Columbus on Urban Meyers staff.

Michigan, again, was the tougher team.

Advertisement And then the damning postgame brawl erupted.

Michigan players literally wanted to plant the Wolverines flag in the middle of The Shoe.

Punches were thrown.

Police got involved, pepper spraying those in and around the melee .

And there was Day, frozen, instead of aggressively trying to settle things with his players.

It was a horrible look at the end of a nightmarish day for the Buckeyes and especially Day.

It is impossible to truly know just what Day and his family have been dealing with, being on the wrong side of this rivalry and directly in the middle of it, suffocated by it.

Though Day seems to be having more fun behind the scenes this year than previously, people close to Day have talked privately about how emotionally hard this had been for his wife and young children.

Coaches and their families often get the worst of being connected to proud programs with incredibly passionate fan bases.

From what Ive heard, this is all of that, times a million.

And that was before Saturdays disaster against Michigan the most shocking outcome of a college football season of stunners.

Day, of course, is being compensated very well.

He makes more than $10 million a year.

Many, Im sure, would love to have his problems.

The Buckeyes have better resources than anyone in the sport; SEC blue bloods are in the same ballpark, but those half-dozen heavyweights are all jostling with each other.

In the Big Ten, the Buckeyes stand alone.

Michigan, Penn State and Oregon are not committed to football at the level Ohio State is.

This year, after seeing how the Wolverines had surpassed Ohio State on the field under Jim Harbaugh, the Buckeyes pumped $20 million into the 2024 roster.

But against Michigan a team that lost almost its entire offense and its defensive leaders, not to mention Harbaugh himself Days team still couldnt get the job done .

GO DEEPER Ryan Day went all in on beating Michigan except when it mattered most The Buckeyes season is far from over, though they will be at home watching the Big Ten Championship Game next Saturday rather than playing in it.

Ohio State will make the Playoff, given that the Buckeyes beat top-five Penn State in Happy Valley and blew out top-10 Indiana .

This is still an extremely talented team.

Advertisement Day is a really good coach, and I wouldnt be shocked if the Buckeyes ended up winning the national title.

(This is after believing that they would win it all this year; I am skeptical now.) Two years ago, Ohio State also had a crushing defeat against Michigan in Columbus.

But it then almost beat Georgia in the Playoff, coming within a last-second field goal, which then would have set Ohio State up against an undermanned TCU team in the title game.

But this team feels much heavier.

More gut punches at the hands of the Wolverines.

More of the Buckeyes twisting themselves in knots.

Stuck in a mind game they cant seem to get out of.

And if they dont win the title this year, that seemingly excruciating pressure on Day will only get more suffocating.

Many are wondering if Ohio State would fire Day if the Buckeyes dont win the title this year.

Prominent alumni are loud about the Michigan losses and Ohio State hired a new athletic director this year.

Day has a buyout of $38 million.

Though Ohio State could figure out that sum, would it be justifiable just because he lost to Michigan again? Moving on from Day would present its own challenges.

Look around the sport and youll see a lot of big programs whose home run hires have fizzled out.

Maybe Buckeyes great Mike Vrabel could be the answer .

But would he want to become a college coach in this era of the sport? And if not him, then who? A better question to me is this: If Day cant rally the Buckeyes in the Playoff, does he still really want this job? Is it worth it to him and his young family now, given how hot the temperature is in Columbus? At this point, it sure looks like it isnt.