Looking back now, it's hard to fathom that just a few years ago, there were some outspoken folks within the Ohio State fan base that wanted to hit the reset button on the Ryan Day era after he had led the Buckeyes to a remarkable 56-8 record as a head coach, but hadn't brought home a coveted national title to one of the most title hungry fans bases in college football.
That changed after the Buckeyes rattled off a 14-2 season in 2024 that say them capture the national title, and they followed that up with a 12-2 season last fall where they fielded the stingiest defense in college football for a majority of the year before falling in the Big Ten title game 13-10 to the eventual national champion Indiana, and then losing to eventual runner-up Miami in the Cotton Bowl.
With a national title on his resume, Day has established himself as one of the top coaches in college football, and despite an 82-12 record since taking over for Urban Meyer being the game's top coach, or even top program wasn't one of his goals as a youngster.
After losing his father at the young age of nine, Day shared with those attending the All Pro Dad event a few days ago that he knew at a young age that the number one thing he wanted to do in his life was to be a great dad.
"I lost my father when I was nine. So, growing up, I didn't have a father, but a lot of people stepped in that gap. A lot of people did."
Expanding on that a bit, Day shared about how he saw that hardship as an opportunity.
"I actually looked at it like an opportunity because I was able to choose the attributes in a bunch of men in my community that I wanted to imitate down the road. And thank God for my grandfather and my uncles, my father-in-law and the coaches that I had. They sort of they stepped in and they they were my father. And then from there, I wanted to become a good dad for for my son R.J. who's here tonight, for my daughters. I wanted to be a good husband. I wanted to show my kids what it looks like to be a good dad. What it looks like to be a good husband, what love looks like. Because, you know, I learned that from several people in my community.:
"So being a dad, being a coach is very, very important."
"Being here tonight just allows us an opportunity to think about that, to share stories because there's nothing more important than that. It's the best thing that we can do. And the lessons that we're teaching our our youth right now, we're teaching our sons and we're teaching our daughters that they are going to bring that with the rest of their life, and it's easy to get caught up in our day-to-day. We all do. But there's nothing more important than that."
Earlier in day, he was asked about the one piece of advice he would give fathers everywhere, and what he shares is timeless advice.
"One thing I said was spend time because time goes fast. It's one of the things we have a hard time wrapping our mind around is just as human beings is how fast time goes."
He goes on the share the perspective he has now as his son RJ is set to leave for college next year - and he's actually committed to enroll and play for Big Ten foe Northwestern where former Buckeye offensive coordinator and close friend of Ryan Day Chip Kelly is now the offensive coordinator, and how time is the most treasured thing we all have as parents.
"So, we have to spend time. Even some days when we feel like we're not getting anything done, we are. Our presence matters. Our listening matters. It's not always what we say, but sometimes it is. And sometimes we have to find ways to communicate even when it isn't comfortable for us to make our generation better and leave it better for the next generations to come."
Hear Day's full thoughts from the event that also featured Buckeye head coach and Ohio State icon Joe Tressel as well in the clip.