Did Ryan Day play college football? Ohio State coach's football career explored as a player
Ryan Day is now best known for steering the Ohio State Buckeyes to being near certain contenders for the College Football Playoff and, according to the 2023 AP preseason poll, third favorites for the national championship.
Did Ryan Day play college football?
Yes, Ryan Day played linebacker and quarterback for the University of New Hampshire between 1998 and 2001. He holds the record for the most pass attempts ever by a Wildcats player, which he set when he faced Delaware in 2000 and attempted 65 passes.
Chip Kelly, offensive coordinator at UNH and the man who recruited Day for the Wildcats, described Ryan Day's time as a player and coach under him to USA Today.
“There’s never been a time I’ve seen him where the situation was too big for him,” Kelly said, “whether he was 12 years old or 39 years old. Other kids, when they see pressure situations they kind of get a little helter-skelter. He was never like that. He’s always been kind of mature beyond his years."
Ryan Day's coaching career
In 2002, Ryan Day started his coaching career as a tight ends coach at the University of New Hampshire before stints as a graduate assistant for Florida and Boston College.
Day then bounced around coaching the wide receivers at Temple before returning to Boston College. He divided his time being the offensive coordinator at Temple before once again returning to Boston College in the same capacity.
Ryan Day snagged the quarterbacks coaching role at the Philadelphia Eagles under coach Chip Kelly in 2015, and he managed to make the Eagles' average QB Sam Bradford look like a world-beater.
Day followed Chip Kelly to the San Francisco 49ers as a quarterbacks coach and worked his magic on Colin Kaepernick.
Day joined Ohio State under coach Urban Meyer and elevated the Buckeyes defense to sixth nationally in terms of points per game. He also drilled quarterback R.J Barrett into a throwing machine with 3,053 yards, resulting in 35 touchdowns.
After filling in for coach Urban Meyer during the season and going 3-0, Ryan Day was named the Buckeyes' head coach after Meyer decided to retire.
In his first full season as coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes, they started the season 13-0 and ultimately narrowly lost in the College Football Playoff semifinal to the Clemson Tigers.
In his Ohio State career, Day has been named the Big Ten Coach of the Year and won two conference championships with a 48-6 record. However, he is under pressure to win the national championship.