Ryan Day Recalls Thinking of Late Father After Ohio State's National Title Win

Jan. 20 is a meaningful day for the Buckeyes' coach.

Ryan Day speaks on March 7, 2025. / Kyle Robertson/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

When Ohio State beat Notre Dame 34–23 on Jan. 20 to win college football's national championship, the big individual winner was understood to be Buckeyes coach Ryan Day.

He'd defied doubts from his own fanbase to steer his team through a buzzsaw four-game stretch in the College Football Playoff, shaking off a bitter loss to Michigan in the regular-season finale. His protracted victory lap felt earned, and yet the entire saga diminished the complexity of Day's story.

On Friday, appearing on The Herd With Colin Cowherd, Day discussed thinking of his late father after the national championship. Day's father died by suicide when the coach was nine years old.

"For me, it was my father... I lost my father on Jan. 20," Day said, noting he had not previously made that information public. "I saw when the schedule came out that the championship was on the same day when I lost my father. And so I just knew that he was with me that day."

Ryan Day on the first person he thought of after winning the National Championship:

“For me, it was my father. I lost my father on Jan. 20… I saw when the schedule came out that the National Championship was on that day… I knew he was with me.

pic.twitter.com/qhulNkk8ob

— The Silver Bulletin (@tSilverBulletin) March 7, 2025

Day has been a mental-health advocate throughout his Ohio State tenure, establishing a fund dedicated to pediatric mental health.

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