CHICAGO - Ryan Day didn’t sound like a coach easing into July on Wednesday. He sounded like a man still carrying the edge of a championship run, and still demanding more.
At Big Ten Media Days at the Hilton Chicago, Day stood out in a crowded Day 2 lineup that also featured representatives from Michigan State, Oregon, UCLA, Minnesota and Purdue. He was joined by three of Ohio State’s biggest names: safety Jaylen McClain, quarterback Julian Sayin and wide receiver Jeremiah Smith.
The mood around Day was unmistakable. The passion was there, the intensity was there, and the message was clear: Ohio State is not interested in coasting off last season’s title.
That 2024 team ripped through Tennessee in the opening round, then handled Oregon in the Rose Bowl and Texas in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic before finishing with a national championship over Notre Dame. It was the Buckeyes’ best season in a decade and a run that gave Day a major boost as one of the sport’s top coaches.
Now the focus shifts to what comes next, and Day made it plain that the standard in Columbus hasn’t changed.
"This year, based on the way our schedule looks and the way it's laid out, we're going to get some early feedback in these games," Day told reporters. "We're going to have to play well down the stretch in the fourth quarter.
But when you have guys like Julian [Sayin] and the offensive line, Jaylen McClain, guys that have now been through that before, Jeremiah [Smith] is a big part of that, Brandon Inniss, Bennett Christian. Kenyatta Jackson, another guy who has been around our program for a long time.
Payton Pierce is going to have to step up in a big way. They were all part of that.
They saw the championship run. They saw us coming up short last year.
All that will play into this season."
Later in the day, Day carried the same tone in a smaller local media session. He wasn’t dismissing the preseason chatter - Cleveland.com’s media poll has Ohio State first in the Big Ten heading into the opener against Ball State - but he kept returning to one phrase that seems to define the Buckeyes’ mindset.
The quest for perfection.
That’s the banner Day is waving as Ohio State tries to stay on top, with Sayin and Smith carrying enough star power to enter the Heisman conversation if the season breaks right. For now, though, the talking is nearly done. Fall camp is close, the games are coming, and the Buckeyes are about to find out how much of that championship fire they can bring back.
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