With “Friends” Like Urban Meyer and Jim Tressel, Ryan Day Needs No Enemies

By Rock Westfall

It is impossible to know what is in anyone’s mind. But you can certainly handicap the probabilities. And when it comes to the mind of a coach, former or current, there are certain things we know for sure. A coach strategically knows what he is saying and doing. That is why there is the term “coach speak.”

The most successful coaches, such as Nick Saban , only give the media something when it serves said coach’s messaging purposes. When a coach wants to send a signal, he will give a splash headline quote. Otherwise, when a coach wants to control the narrative and cool the temperature, he will spew gibberish and cliches.

Last week, former Ohio State coaches Urban Meyer and Jim Tressel gaslit current head coach Ryan Day . Meyer and Tressel raved about the Buckeyes' talent level, putting even more pressure on Day than was already the case. Day is facing a must-go undefeated season for 2024. He is coming off three consecutive losses to Michigan, AKA “That Team Up North.”

Ryan Day is second to Urban Meyer for all-time Ohio State football regular season coaching win percentages based on at least 20 career games. Meyer is at .902, Day is at .875, and Tressel is right behind at .828. However, Meyer and Tressel owned Michigan. Day has not. At Ohio State, beating Michigan is a top job requirement. Thus, Day is under the gun. Meyer and Tressel know that better than anyone.

At the onset of the 2024 season, Ryan Day is facing expectations that no other college football coach has to deal with. He has no margin for error. Now he has two of the Ohio State coaching greats touting Day’s roster as perhaps the greatest ever. Meyer and Tressel, as Ohio State legends, know the Ohio State culture and coaching demands better than anyone. Hence, they had to know they were gaslighting Day.

Meyer and Tressel Pour Gas on the Hot Seat

Last week, Urban Meyer was effusive in his praise for the 2024 Ohio State roster: "This is one of the most talented rosters in the last decade, maybe ever," Meyer told Columbus 10TV's Adam King. "That's a big statement, and they've gotta play, but you look at the quality of athletes at every position, I've never seen anything like it."

Perhaps Meyer believes what he said. The Buckeyes have never wanted talent in the Day era. But for Urban Meyer to take the next step was unnecessary. He knows better. Consider how Meyer emotionally cracked multiple times as a head coach at Florida and Ohio State. If anyone knows about the coaching pressure cooker and the need for grace, it is Meyer. Yet he offered none to his former offensive coordinator and successor.

What was even more fascinating was that Tressel chimed in. Tressel has a more stable personality than Meyer and would play the media close to his famed sweater vest. Until recently, that is.

Last week, Tressel said: "I don't know if I've seen that many great players all in that building all at once. Every position, every place you turn. Ryan's done a great job, and Ohio State has done a great job."

Gee, thanks, guys.

Only The Paranoid Survive

To his credit, Ryan Day is all in on the 2024 season. He imported Big 12 championship quarterback Will Howard from Kansas State and hired his old mentor , Chip Kelly , to become the new offensive coordinator. Recruiting and portal pickups have been at a premium for the Buckeyes this offseason. All of which points to Meyer and Tressel likely being factually correct, but unwise.

In American politics, it is said that a gaffe is when the truth is told. The last thing that Ryan Day needs is legendary former Buckeye coaches hyping his roster to unreasonable levels. Lou Holtz may have been a detestable human being, but as a big-time head coach, he was a master of crying poor and downplaying expectations.

Heaven will help Ryan Day if he loses to Michigan's rookie head coach, Sherrone Moore , on November 30.

Watch your back, Ryan.