At the end of the Day, maybe it’s time for Urban renewal

I wasn’t always a Buckeyes fan; Ohio State was sort of the default go-to whenever the Browns were having a rough season.

Go ahead, do the math, and as you can see, the numbers will suggest I’ve been a Buckeyes fan for quite some time now. A long, long time.

So long, in fact, I fear we are on the verge of witnessing history repeat itself.

Ryan Day has been the full-time coach of the Buckeyes since 2019, assuming Urban Meyer’s job after Meyer expressed the desire to (wink-wink) “retire.” (Translation: Urb gets antsy quickly, and when you couple that with an ego the size of Ohio Stadium, the urge to move on is difficult for Urban to resist. So, he does.)

But back to Ryan Day. Day beat Michigan in his first year with what was mostly Urban Meyer’s team. Since then, zip. Zero. Zilch. Dark Days at OSU. People will point to Ryan Day’s regular season coaching record (56-7) as proof of his impeccable coaching acumen.

Your honor, I object! Put Day’s lone victory over Michigan (in 2019) with his unimpressive Bowl/College Football Playoff record (2-3) and help yourself to a big bowl of mediocrity, which brings me back to my comment about history repeating itself.

Back at the end of the previous century (1988-2000), OSU had a coach by the name of John Cooper. This guy was, without question, one of the better evaluators of talent you’ll ever find and was a fantastic recruiter. Cooper recruited a laundry list of talented players who not only excelled at the collegiate level but also had lengthy NFL careers as well.

Cooper did have one little itsy-bitsy issue with a couple of things, though. He couldn’t beat Michigan to save his life (or ultimately, his job, either), compiling an uninspiring 2-10-1 record with some of the best talent found at the collegiate level.

The other little issue Cooper had was with bowl games. Cooper was every bit as bad against the rest of the football world in GTM (Games That Mattered) as he was against “that team up north.”

When John Cooper and Ohio State finally parted ways after the 2000 season, “Coop” was second only to Woody Hayes (you may have heard of him) in OSU coaching victories. But the only thing most Buckeyes fans recall is Cooper’s ineptitude in games that counted.

Which is the perfect segue back to Mr. 56-7, Ryan Day, who apparently never got the “beat Michigan” memo. And he apparently misplaced the “and a national championship wouldn’t hurt either” message as well. I don’t want to give Day 13 seasons to show he can’t do the job.

Meyer has been gone 5 years now, and the current OSU coaching scenario means Urb would receive a hero’s welcome if he returned.

The ultimate in “Urban renewal,” no?