Ryan Day’s résumé already looks like the kind of thing that would make most coaches blush. His win percentage sits at the top of the sport’s all-time list, he is on track to become the fastest coach to 100 career wins, and he has already produced countless NFL players along with one National Championship.
That’s the broad picture. The sharper one is this: when Day has needed a big answer, he’s usually delivered it.
Against James Franklin’s Penn State Nittany Lions, he has gone 6-0. He is 3-0 against Marcus Freeman’s Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 2-0 against Steve Sarkisian, 1-1 against Dabo Sweeney, 1-1 against Curt Cignetti, and 1-1 against Dan Lanning.
Kirby Smart, Jim Harbaugh, and Nick Saban are not part of that list, but the message still lands the same way. When Day needs his fastball, he tends to bring it.
That matters every season, but the 2026 slate looks like a different kind of test entirely. Ohio State’s schedule includes Sarkisian in week two, plus Brett Bielema, Kurt Ferenz, Lannning, Cignetti, Lincoln Riley, and Kyle Whittingham to finish the year.
It is a brutal lineup of coaches for Day and the Buckeyes to navigate, and the usual expectation around Ohio State still applies: in a vacuum, they should be favored in nearly all of those games. The problem is the grind. Week after week after week, that kind of schedule can wear on a team.
And that’s before the College Football Playoff even enters the picture. The Buckeyes would then have to deal with four more of the top 15 teams in the country.
So the question hanging over 2026 is simple: can Ohio State absorb that kind of load? The standard in Columbus does not change because the road is hard. If anything, that’s the deal with the program.
If anybody can handle it, the argument goes, it’s Ryan Day.
In Other News...
James Laurinaitis Is Driving Ohio State's Next Big Recruiting Push
With Ohio State moving deeper into its preseason build-up and the first meaningful checkpoints of the fall drawing closer, the recruiting work around the program has not slowed down. James Laurinaitis has been a central figure in that effort, staying active with priority targets as the Buckeyes balance scrimmages, team preparation and the usual run-up to a season opener.
One of the more notable names on the calendar is Tahj Gray, the New Jersey linebacker whose interest in Ohio State has been gaining traction. His trip later this month gives the Buckeyes another chance to make an impression on a player the staff clearly values, and it fits into the larger push to keep relationships warm while the season's early chaos starts to take over. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio States New Offense Is Already Sending A Clear Message
Arthur Smith has barely gotten settled as Ohio States new offensive coordinator, but the early feedback from inside the program already points to a different feel on that side of the ball. Smith replaced Brian Hartline after Hartline left to become head coach at USF, and the Buckeyes are hoping the change helps sharpen an offense that finished last season 26th nationally in yards per game.
Isaiah Wests comments offered one of the first public hints at how that shift is being received in Columbus. He spoke positively about Smiths approach and the way the offense is being pared down into something more focused, a tone that suggests the staff wants clarity and repetition to matter more than volume. For a program trying to take a step forward, the message is already pretty clear: simpler may be the starting point, and how quickly that approach translates on Saturdays will be worth watching. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio States 2026 Defense Has One Experience Debate Fans Need To See
Matt Patricias view of Ohio States 2026 defense comes down to a familiar offseason question: how much experience really matters when the lineup changes? The Buckeyes are looking at a projected starting group that has fewer combined defensive snaps than the 2025 starters, which would seem to suggest a dip in proven production at first glance. But Patricias broader assessment points beyond the first unit and into the full rotation, where the roster picture looks a little different.
The more revealing part of the comparison is the top 15 defenders, where the 2026 group has more total snaps than the same tier from 2025. That suggests Ohio State may not have the same kind of veteran heft in its starting lineup, but it does have more accumulated game reps across the depth chart, which matters over the course of a season. For a defense trying to hold up in the Big Ten and beyond, the debate is less about whether the Buckeyes are experienced and more about where that experience is concentrated. [Read more 🡒]