Behind Day’s rise at Ohio State
One of the first things people notice about Ryan Day is his cheeks.
They're rosy red. Sort of like Santa Claus'. And people often wonder the reason for it, especially after his journey to become the head football coach at Ohio State.
“I thought he had the red cheeks because he was always cold,” said Christian Leibl-cote, a former teammate of Day's at the University of New Hampshire.
New Hampshire head football coach Sean Mcdonnell had a different theory.
“I didn't know if he was red-cheeked because he was pissed off or something,” Mcdonnell told USA TODAY Sports this week. “But it was always there.”
The simpler explanation is that it's just his complexion. But bigger mysteries still abound about him after he almost seemed to come out of nowhere to start his head coaching career with 23 wins in 24 games as head coach of the Buckeyes. How did Day do that and where did it come from?
To find answers, USA TODAY Sports examined some of the big moments that helped color the rest of his rising profile as he prepares to lead Ohio State (7-0) against No. 1 Alabama in the College Football Playoff championship game Monday.
His team beat No. 2 Clemson in the semifinals on Jan. 1, advancing to the title game in Miami Gardens, Florida, where his family plans to be with him in support. Based on his history, Day, 41, still could have more rare moments in store beyond Monday. He seems to have a knack for them.
Miracle of the millennium: It still ranks as one of the craziest comebacks of all time, unseen and unheard of by most college football fans even now. On Nov. 4, 2000, Day was the junior quarterback at New Hampshire and had traveled with his team to play Delaware, then ranked No. 2 in the Football Championship Subdivision.
His team was down 31-3 with about 16 minutes left in the game.
By the time it was over, New Hampshire won in overtime 45-44.
Day threw for a school-record 37 completions in 65 attempts for 426 yards and four touchdowns, including a 53-yarder to future NFL receiver Randal Williams in the final minute of the fourth quarter to help tie the score. “That was because of his play,” Leibl-cote said of the comeback. “It was unbelievable.”
Death of his father: Tragedy struck Day's family in 1988 when his father, Ray, died by suicide, leaving behind his wife, Lisa, and son Ryan as the oldest of three brothers in Manchester, New Hampshire. He was 9.
“Losing his father at that age and being responsible for two young brothers – Ryan grew up a lot faster and had certain responsibilities,” said day's father-inlaw Stan Spirou, who knew Day since his childhood. “He acted more mature than most kids. … You could just see it in the backyard.”
That's where he'd play basketball and organize the teams, including his brothers and neighbors. His competitiveness and leadership skills at that age later showed in other youth sports, too, especially baseball. In the Babe Ruth League at age 13, he chose a certain position for a reason.
“He wanted to be behind the plate,” said Pat O'neil, who coached Day on that team. “He wanted to be a catcher. He wanted to be the quarterback. He wanted to be the leader.”
After his father's death, Day's grandfather, Paul Mcgaunn, helped fill the void. He died in 2019 at 85. Spirou also served as Day's mentor and retired in 2018 after 33 years as basketball coach at Southern New Hampshire University.
Day ended up marrying Spirou's daughter, Nina, and the couple now have two young daughters and a son. In 2019, the Days announced they had joined a movement that supports youth mental health at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus. Day cited the death of his father as a reason for his commitment to help “break stigmas” associated with mental health issues.
“What they're doing is something that really hits home with me and hits home with Nina,” Day said.
The couple established a fund at the hospital to help the cause.
Chip and Urban: If Chip Kelly hadn't been a coach at New Hampshire back then, Day's future could have taken a much different route. The same goes for the time when Day crossed paths with head coach Urban Meyer in 2005.
After tutoring him as a player, Kelly helped Day land three key jobs: his first coaching job, in 2002, as New Hampshire's tight ends coach, followed by stints as quarterbacks coach of the NFL'S Philadelphia Eagles (2015) and San Francisco 49ers (2016) under Kelly as head coach.
After spending the next two seasons as a graduate assistant at Boston College, Day also benefited from another connection to his home state in 2005 – Dan Mullen.
Meyer had just been hired as head coach of Florida and had brought offensive coordinator Mullen with him from his previous job at Utah.
Mullen, now Florida's head coach, had learned about Day through O'neil, a coach who had worked with Mullen and Day during their upbringings in Manchester.
“Ryan was coming up through the ranks, and I just remember saying to Dan, ‘Hey, if you ever got anything' “in terms of job opportunities, he should consider Day, O'neil said.
At the time, Mullen didn't really know Day, who is seven years younger. But Mullen helped bring Day on the Florida staff as a graduate assistant under Meyer, who later hired Day at Ohio State as an assistant coach in early 2017.
The big audition: In August 2018, Ohio State promoted Day to interim head coach after Meyer was suspended for three games because of his mishandling of domestic violence allegations against one of his other assistant coaches.
Kelly sent Day a text message at the time: “You're built for this.”
He was right. The Buckeyes went 3-0 to start the season under Day and averaged 56 points a game.
Athletics director Gene Smith viewed his upside as worth the investment compared to the risk of his inexperience.
“He proved to everybody that he was ready to coach as a head coach at this level,” Mcdonnell said.
It was a culmination of connections, experience, skill and brainpower. The Buckeyes under Day went 13-1 in 2019 with a loss to Clemson in the College Football Playoff, then 7-0 this season. Now he's going against one of the best coaches of all time, Nick Saban, adding to the blur of the past few years.