Leadership test
How will Day respond after first regular-season loss?
When New Hampshire coach Sean Mcdonnell was picking his team's starting quarterback in 1999, he considered a senior and sophomore for the job. He ultimately settled on the younger passer.
Though an underclassman, Ryan Day had impressed him with his leadership, holding command of his teammates.
“I've told a lot of people this,” Mcdonnell said, “Ryan had a great presence on the field as a general, as a leader, and stuff like that. He knew he had to ride people. He was very good at challenging kids. At the same time, he was very good at picking people up. He had a good feel for all of that.”
Mcdonnell is one of the winningest coaches in the Football Championship Subdivision, but these were his first seasons leading the program. Before annual playoff appearances, victories were a bit rarer as the Wildcats hovered around .500.
“Guys all looked to him and how he was going to respond, and that's what made him such a good football player and that's what's made him a special person and coach.”
Sean Mcdonnell New Hampshire coach on Ohio State head coach Ryan Day
But the period of time prepared his quarterback and Ohio State's future coach to become a leader of a group in difficult moments during a season.
How do you rally players in the aftermath of a stinging loss?
It's a challenge Day confronts two decades later. In his first two seasons at the helm of the Buckeyes, his teams breezed through the regular season and suffered defeat only in the College Football Playoff. They could retool over nine long months of an offseason.
Saturday's loss to Oregon marked the first time Day had lost a game as a head coach in the regular season, a point on the schedule that leaves much less time to emotionally regroup or overhaul schemes on offense or defense. It's a fast turnaround with urgency surrounding the program.
A week from the loss, the Buckeyes return to the field at Ohio Stadium, hosting Tulsa in another non-conference contest.
From Mcdonnell's perspective, Day proved himself adept at guiding players as a 20-year-old quarterback.
When dealing with adversity, he was their rallying point.
“He was the light in the harbor,” Mcdonnell said. “Guys all looked to him and how he was going to respond, and that's what made him such a good football player and that's what's made him a special person and coach. He puts stuff on his shoulders.”
In Day's three seasons as the starter at New Hampshire, his team lost 18 games.
So Mcdonnell saw him regrouping following defeat often. On many occasions, it was leadership that was shown by example.
“He was the first one to see what he had to do to correct to play better,” Mcdonnell said. “Whether it was watching film or going out and working on a drop or a throw, something he didn't do well in that game, he just went out and said, 'OK, good to go back.' Or he was a pickme-up for the whole team, getting everybody on the right page.”
The effort resonated with all of his teammates.
“They responded very well because they knew and trusted him,” Mcdonnell said. “He was the one they looked to as the leader of the offense. And he was very smart on how he handled all the guys — the older players in the program, the upperclassmen to the guys that were his age. He was smart enough to know how to ride those guys and do it well.”
If Day himself offered a glimpse to the public of how he will now respond to a regular-season loss as a head coach, it came during his weekly news conference Tuesday.
He made clear he was not content with his team's recent performance and vowed to make a series on adjustments, especially on defense. He called them structural changes.
Though short on offering specifics, the general tenor was clear. They were not standing pat.
“When it gets to a certain point,” he said, “you have to get things fixed.”
The hardships have been few for Day in Columbus, but he seemed unfazed by this week's circumstances.
"I know that no one's used to losing or anything like," he said, "but we're just going to move on, make corrections. The sun came up, and we're going to from there. It's nothing that different guys haven't felt before. They've lost games before. But what it really does is it allows you the opportunity to address issues that are already there. And that's what's going on here."
Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Contact him at jkaufman@dispatch.com or on Twitter @joeyrkaufman.
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