Football
Day, Ryan
Ryan Day
- Title:
- Head Coach
Ryan Day
Head Coach
The Ohio State University
In one 31-day stretch during the longest season ever in his sixth full year as head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes, Ryan Day coached and led his team and coaching staff on the greatest and most difficult journey to win a national championship in collegiate football history.
Between Dec. 21, 2024 and Jan. 20, 2025, Day’s Buckeyes defeated No. 7-ranked Tennessee, 42-17, in a College Football Playoff game at Ohio Stadium, No. 1 Oregon, 41-21, at the Rose Bowl, No. 3 Texas, 28-14, in a quasi-road game in Dallas at the Cotton Bowl, and No. 5 Notre Dame, 34-23, in the CFP championship game at Mercedez-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Running and winning and sledgehammering that gauntlet of formidable foes not only secured Ohio State’s ninth national championship, and third this century after titles in 2002 and 2014, but also capped a program record-tying 14-win season and improved Day’s coaching record to a marvelous 70-10 for a winning percentage – .875 – that is No. 1 among all current head coaches and No. 3 all-time.
Day joins Paul Brown (1942), Woody Hayes (1954-57-61-68-70), Jim Tressel (2002) and Urban Meyer (2014) as Ohio State coaches to win a national championship, and he joins Meyer as the only Ohio State head coaches with multiple seasons of at least 13 wins.
Among active head coaches, Day is now one of only three to have won a College Football Playoff national championship. The others: Georgia’s Kirby Smart and Clemson’s Dabo Swinney.
Day’s leadership during this NCAA record, 16-game 2024 season enabled Ohio State to set some monumental records, including:
A native of Manchester, N.H., Day was a three-year starting quarterback at New Hampshire and a team captain as a senior. He earned his degree in business administration in 2002. He has a master’s in administrative studies from Boston College (2004).
Day, and his wife, Christina, whose nickname is “Nina,” have three children: Ryan Jr. or “RJ”, Grace and Nia.
Ryan Day Time
Sometime around 6:30 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on January 1, 2019, Ryan Day had a whistle placed around his neck by retiring head coach Urban Meyer in front of the team after its 28-23 Rose Bowl Game victory over Washington. The head coaching tenure of Day at Ohio State University had officially begun.
Technically, Day’s first day on the job was Jan. 2, but that moment in the locker room at the Rose Bowl in front of 124 players, including more than 100 who would be a part of his first team, will have the lasting impact of origination for the 46-year-old from Manchester, N.H., who became just the 25th head coach for a storied program that ranks second all-time in victories and has played 135 football seasons.
10 Championships
In his six seasons as coach, Day has guided Ohio State to 10 championships: the 2025 CFP national championship, back-to-back Big Ten championships in 2019 and 2020, two Rose Bowl wins (2022 and 2025), Sugar Bowl (2020) and Cotton Bowl (2025) victories and three Big Ten East Division titles.
Presently, he is the only coach to lead his team to the College Football Playoffs four times since 2019, his first season as head coach.
Offense & Defense
Day’s teams have been among the best offensive teams in the nation, ranking in the Top 3 nationally in scoring three times and Top 10 in total offense four times. Ohio State was No. 1 in the nation in both total offense and scoring offense in 2021.
Additionally, Ohio State has been No. 1 in the nation five times on defense: in total defense in 2019 and 2024; in passing defense in 2019 and 2023; and in scoring defense in 2024.
20 All-Americans; 50 NFL Draft Picks
Day has coached 20 first-team All-Americans, six Heisman Trophy finalists (Marvin Harrison Jr., 2023; C.J. Stroud, 2022 and 2021; Justin Fields, 2019; Chase Young, 2019; Dwayne Haskins, 2018) and six major national award winners (Seth McLaughlin, Rimington Trophy; Marvin Harrison Jr., Biletnikoff Award; J.K. Dobbins, Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award; Chase Young, Bednarik Award, Bronko Nagurski Award, Hendricks Award).
A total of 50 Buckeyes have been selected in the NFL Draft under Day, including 14 first-round NFL Draft picks (WR Emeka Egbuka, OL Donovan Jackson, DT Tyleik Williams and OT Josh Simmons in 2025; WR Marvin Harrison Jr. in 2024; QB C.J. Stroud, OT Paris Johnson and WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba in 2023; WRs Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave in 2022; QB Justin Fields in 2021; DE Chase Young, CB Jeff Okudah and CB Damon Arnette in 2020).
Day has also seen his players win six Big Ten Quarterback of the Year honors, six Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year honors, four Chicago Tribune Silver Football awards, three Wide Receiver of the Year honors, two Freshman of the Year honors, and defensive player, linebacker, tight end, offensive lineman and defensive lineman awards.
Academic Records
In the classroom, Day’s Buckeyes have set program records for number of OSU Scholar-Athletes (95 in 2024-25) and Academic All-Big Ten Conference honorees (57 in 2024). The program has had three consecutive years of record Graduation Success Rate scores including the December 2024 score of 89.
Five Buckeyes have earned Academic All-America honors during Day’s tenure, including 2024 honorees Donovan Jackson, Quinshon Judkins and Seth McLaughlin.
Also, in the fall of 2024, the football program was one of just two programs nationwide with an Academic Progress Rate score of 1,000, Harvard being the other. The APR accounts for academic eligibility, retention and graduation.
Coach of the Year
Day was the first Ohio State coach in 40 years to be named Big Ten Conference Coach of the Year, earning the honor in 2019 – his first year as a head coach – by coaching, developing and leading one of the best teams in school history. His 2019 Buckeyes were dominant, winning 13 consecutive games by an average of over 36 points per game while ranking in the Top 5 of 12 major NCAA statistical categories.
His 2019 Buckeyes became the first Big Ten team ever to win three consecutive outright Big Ten titles (and his 2020 team extended that run to four consecutive outright titles) and the team advanced to the College Football Playoffs for the third time in the six-year playoff history. Day’s 13 victories in 2019 are tied for the most by a first-year FBS head coach and he is the first coach to win 13 games without the benefit of a bowl victory. The Buckeyes were ranked among the nation’s Top 5 in 14 of 16 weeks.
Recruiting
A terrific relationship with prospects and their families has helped Day and Ohio State annually secure Top 5 recruiting classes, including six consecutive in the 247Sports rankings (#5 in 2025; #4 in 2024; #5 in 2023; #4 in 2022; #2 in 2021 and #5 in 2020).
Acting Head Coach
Day started his head coaching with a record of 3-0. He is credited with the wins earned over Oregon State, Rutgers and 15th-ranked TCU at the beginning of the 2018 season when he served eight weeks in August and September as Ohio State’s acting head coach.
Prior Positions
In 2018 Day was Ohio State quarterbacks coach and the team ranked second nationally in total offense and passing yards, and No. 8 in scoring. It established Big Ten Conference records for offensive yards per game (535.6), passing yards (5,100), passing yards per game (373.0), touchdown passes (51), completions (396) and total plays (1,131).
Individually, quarterback Dwayne Haskins was a Heisman Trophy finalist who became just the sixth player to throw 50 touchdown passes in a season.
The 2017 season was Day’s first in Columbus and it also proved to be a success. His starting quarterback, J.T. Barrett, was a finalist for the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback of the Year Award and he was named the Big Ten’s quarterback of the year after a season in which he set seven school single season records and broke the Big Ten Conference career mark for touchdowns responsible for with 147.
As an NFL quarterbacks coach, Day worked with Colin Kaepernick and Blaine Gabbert in 2016 with the 49ers and he helped Sam Bradford to a record-setting 2015 season with the Eagles as he completed 65 percent of his passes – an Eagles single-season record – and threw for 3,725 yards. Both figures were career highs at the time for Bradford.
In addition to his two NFL seasons as a quarterbacks coach, Day has 15 years of collegiate coaching experience, including offensive coordinator positions at Temple and Boston College, as well as positions with Florida – as a graduate assistant under Meyer – and at his alma mater, New Hampshire.
He coached receivers for a year under Al Golden at Temple University (2006) and for five seasons at Boston College (2007-11). Day worked three years as Steve Addazio’s offensive coordinator: in 2012 he ran the offense and coached receivers at Temple and in 2013 and 2014 he was quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator at Boston College.
Ryan Day Quick Facts
Hometown: Manchester, N.H.
High School: Manchester Central
Alma Mater: New Hampshire
Degree: Business administration
Master’s: Administrative studies (Boston College)
Year in Coaching: 24th (Ninth at Ohio State; Seventh as Head Coach)
Wife: Christina (“Nina”)
Children: Son R.J., and daughters Grace and Nia
Ryan Day Coaching Records
Overall: 70-10
Home: 38-3
Away/Neutral: 30-7
Versus Top 5: 7-6
Versus Top 10: 15-8
Versus Top 25: 24-9
Versus Big Ten: 46-5
Big Ten Championships: 2 (2019, 2020)
CFP Appearances: 4 (2019, 2020, 2022, 2024)
Ryan Day Coaching Assignments
2019-pres. Head Coach............................................................... Ohio State University
2018 Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks........................... Ohio State University
2017 Co-Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks..................... Ohio State University
2016 Quarterbacks.............................................................. San Francisco 49ers
2015 Quarterbacks.............................................................. Philadelphia Eagles
2013-14 Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks............................ Boston College
2012 Offensive Coordinator/Wide Receivers......................... Temple
2007-11 Wide Receivers........................................................... Boston College
2006 Wide Receivers........................................................... Temple
2005 Graduate Assistant...................................................... Florida
2003-04 Graduate Assistant...................................................... Boston College
2002 Tight Ends.................................................................. New Hampshire
Head Coach
The Ohio State University
In one 31-day stretch during the longest season ever in his sixth full year as head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes, Ryan Day coached and led his team and coaching staff on the greatest and most difficult journey to win a national championship in collegiate football history.
Between Dec. 21, 2024 and Jan. 20, 2025, Day’s Buckeyes defeated No. 7-ranked Tennessee, 42-17, in a College Football Playoff game at Ohio Stadium, No. 1 Oregon, 41-21, at the Rose Bowl, No. 3 Texas, 28-14, in a quasi-road game in Dallas at the Cotton Bowl, and No. 5 Notre Dame, 34-23, in the CFP championship game at Mercedez-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Running and winning and sledgehammering that gauntlet of formidable foes not only secured Ohio State’s ninth national championship, and third this century after titles in 2002 and 2014, but also capped a program record-tying 14-win season and improved Day’s coaching record to a marvelous 70-10 for a winning percentage – .875 – that is No. 1 among all current head coaches and No. 3 all-time.
Day joins Paul Brown (1942), Woody Hayes (1954-57-61-68-70), Jim Tressel (2002) and Urban Meyer (2014) as Ohio State coaches to win a national championship, and he joins Meyer as the only Ohio State head coaches with multiple seasons of at least 13 wins.
Among active head coaches, Day is now one of only three to have won a College Football Playoff national championship. The others: Georgia’s Kirby Smart and Clemson’s Dabo Swinney.
Day’s leadership during this NCAA record, 16-game 2024 season enabled Ohio State to set some monumental records, including:
- Becoming the first FBS school to defeat five opponents ranked in the Top 5 in one season;
- Winning a record four CFP games in one season; and
- Claiming two bowl wins in one season, one of only two schools to do so.
- 24-9 all-time vs. Top 25 teams;
- 15-8 vs. Top 10 teams;
- 7-6 vs. Top 5 teams; and
- 8-4 in all post-season games.
A native of Manchester, N.H., Day was a three-year starting quarterback at New Hampshire and a team captain as a senior. He earned his degree in business administration in 2002. He has a master’s in administrative studies from Boston College (2004).
Day, and his wife, Christina, whose nickname is “Nina,” have three children: Ryan Jr. or “RJ”, Grace and Nia.
Ryan Day Time
Sometime around 6:30 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on January 1, 2019, Ryan Day had a whistle placed around his neck by retiring head coach Urban Meyer in front of the team after its 28-23 Rose Bowl Game victory over Washington. The head coaching tenure of Day at Ohio State University had officially begun.
Technically, Day’s first day on the job was Jan. 2, but that moment in the locker room at the Rose Bowl in front of 124 players, including more than 100 who would be a part of his first team, will have the lasting impact of origination for the 46-year-old from Manchester, N.H., who became just the 25th head coach for a storied program that ranks second all-time in victories and has played 135 football seasons.
10 Championships
In his six seasons as coach, Day has guided Ohio State to 10 championships: the 2025 CFP national championship, back-to-back Big Ten championships in 2019 and 2020, two Rose Bowl wins (2022 and 2025), Sugar Bowl (2020) and Cotton Bowl (2025) victories and three Big Ten East Division titles.
Presently, he is the only coach to lead his team to the College Football Playoffs four times since 2019, his first season as head coach.
Offense & Defense
Day’s teams have been among the best offensive teams in the nation, ranking in the Top 3 nationally in scoring three times and Top 10 in total offense four times. Ohio State was No. 1 in the nation in both total offense and scoring offense in 2021.
Additionally, Ohio State has been No. 1 in the nation five times on defense: in total defense in 2019 and 2024; in passing defense in 2019 and 2023; and in scoring defense in 2024.
20 All-Americans; 50 NFL Draft Picks
Day has coached 20 first-team All-Americans, six Heisman Trophy finalists (Marvin Harrison Jr., 2023; C.J. Stroud, 2022 and 2021; Justin Fields, 2019; Chase Young, 2019; Dwayne Haskins, 2018) and six major national award winners (Seth McLaughlin, Rimington Trophy; Marvin Harrison Jr., Biletnikoff Award; J.K. Dobbins, Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award; Chase Young, Bednarik Award, Bronko Nagurski Award, Hendricks Award).
A total of 50 Buckeyes have been selected in the NFL Draft under Day, including 14 first-round NFL Draft picks (WR Emeka Egbuka, OL Donovan Jackson, DT Tyleik Williams and OT Josh Simmons in 2025; WR Marvin Harrison Jr. in 2024; QB C.J. Stroud, OT Paris Johnson and WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba in 2023; WRs Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave in 2022; QB Justin Fields in 2021; DE Chase Young, CB Jeff Okudah and CB Damon Arnette in 2020).
Day has also seen his players win six Big Ten Quarterback of the Year honors, six Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year honors, four Chicago Tribune Silver Football awards, three Wide Receiver of the Year honors, two Freshman of the Year honors, and defensive player, linebacker, tight end, offensive lineman and defensive lineman awards.
Academic Records
In the classroom, Day’s Buckeyes have set program records for number of OSU Scholar-Athletes (95 in 2024-25) and Academic All-Big Ten Conference honorees (57 in 2024). The program has had three consecutive years of record Graduation Success Rate scores including the December 2024 score of 89.
Five Buckeyes have earned Academic All-America honors during Day’s tenure, including 2024 honorees Donovan Jackson, Quinshon Judkins and Seth McLaughlin.
Also, in the fall of 2024, the football program was one of just two programs nationwide with an Academic Progress Rate score of 1,000, Harvard being the other. The APR accounts for academic eligibility, retention and graduation.
Coach of the Year
Day was the first Ohio State coach in 40 years to be named Big Ten Conference Coach of the Year, earning the honor in 2019 – his first year as a head coach – by coaching, developing and leading one of the best teams in school history. His 2019 Buckeyes were dominant, winning 13 consecutive games by an average of over 36 points per game while ranking in the Top 5 of 12 major NCAA statistical categories.
His 2019 Buckeyes became the first Big Ten team ever to win three consecutive outright Big Ten titles (and his 2020 team extended that run to four consecutive outright titles) and the team advanced to the College Football Playoffs for the third time in the six-year playoff history. Day’s 13 victories in 2019 are tied for the most by a first-year FBS head coach and he is the first coach to win 13 games without the benefit of a bowl victory. The Buckeyes were ranked among the nation’s Top 5 in 14 of 16 weeks.
Recruiting
A terrific relationship with prospects and their families has helped Day and Ohio State annually secure Top 5 recruiting classes, including six consecutive in the 247Sports rankings (#5 in 2025; #4 in 2024; #5 in 2023; #4 in 2022; #2 in 2021 and #5 in 2020).
Acting Head Coach
Day started his head coaching with a record of 3-0. He is credited with the wins earned over Oregon State, Rutgers and 15th-ranked TCU at the beginning of the 2018 season when he served eight weeks in August and September as Ohio State’s acting head coach.
Prior Positions
In 2018 Day was Ohio State quarterbacks coach and the team ranked second nationally in total offense and passing yards, and No. 8 in scoring. It established Big Ten Conference records for offensive yards per game (535.6), passing yards (5,100), passing yards per game (373.0), touchdown passes (51), completions (396) and total plays (1,131).
Individually, quarterback Dwayne Haskins was a Heisman Trophy finalist who became just the sixth player to throw 50 touchdown passes in a season.
The 2017 season was Day’s first in Columbus and it also proved to be a success. His starting quarterback, J.T. Barrett, was a finalist for the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback of the Year Award and he was named the Big Ten’s quarterback of the year after a season in which he set seven school single season records and broke the Big Ten Conference career mark for touchdowns responsible for with 147.
As an NFL quarterbacks coach, Day worked with Colin Kaepernick and Blaine Gabbert in 2016 with the 49ers and he helped Sam Bradford to a record-setting 2015 season with the Eagles as he completed 65 percent of his passes – an Eagles single-season record – and threw for 3,725 yards. Both figures were career highs at the time for Bradford.
In addition to his two NFL seasons as a quarterbacks coach, Day has 15 years of collegiate coaching experience, including offensive coordinator positions at Temple and Boston College, as well as positions with Florida – as a graduate assistant under Meyer – and at his alma mater, New Hampshire.
He coached receivers for a year under Al Golden at Temple University (2006) and for five seasons at Boston College (2007-11). Day worked three years as Steve Addazio’s offensive coordinator: in 2012 he ran the offense and coached receivers at Temple and in 2013 and 2014 he was quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator at Boston College.
Ryan Day Quick Facts
Hometown: Manchester, N.H.
High School: Manchester Central
Alma Mater: New Hampshire
Degree: Business administration
Master’s: Administrative studies (Boston College)
Year in Coaching: 24th (Ninth at Ohio State; Seventh as Head Coach)
Wife: Christina (“Nina”)
Children: Son R.J., and daughters Grace and Nia
Ryan Day Coaching Records
Overall: 70-10
Home: 38-3
Away/Neutral: 30-7
Versus Top 5: 7-6
Versus Top 10: 15-8
Versus Top 25: 24-9
Versus Big Ten: 46-5
Big Ten Championships: 2 (2019, 2020)
CFP Appearances: 4 (2019, 2020, 2022, 2024)
Ryan Day Coaching Assignments
2019-pres. Head Coach............................................................... Ohio State University
2018 Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks........................... Ohio State University
2017 Co-Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks..................... Ohio State University
2016 Quarterbacks.............................................................. San Francisco 49ers
2015 Quarterbacks.............................................................. Philadelphia Eagles
2013-14 Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks............................ Boston College
2012 Offensive Coordinator/Wide Receivers......................... Temple
2007-11 Wide Receivers........................................................... Boston College
2006 Wide Receivers........................................................... Temple
2005 Graduate Assistant...................................................... Florida
2003-04 Graduate Assistant...................................................... Boston College
2002 Tight Ends.................................................................. New Hampshire
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