As Ohio State celebrated its national championship, I was walking around the stage looking for a few assistant coaches. Amid the circus on the field at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, I found Ryan Day.
I caught him as he was walking away from the stage and to the locker room. He had his normal police escort, as every coach does, but there were countless kids and adults, fans and people who are associated with the program in some way, stopping him. Some just wanted a celebratory hug or high five, others wanted pictures.
Day gave everybody he saw some time. There was just something about watching Day in that moment that stood out to me.
It’s no secret he’s been through a lot in his life, from losing his dad when he was a child to going through everything he has as Ohio State’s coach amid the losses to Michigan. It was good to see a guy who is so obsessed with the process and the smallest details it takes to achieve greatness take a moment to celebrate it with his family and everybody else who meant something to the program.
YOUR 2024 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS ‼️ pic.twitter.com/5blYflHaJb
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) January 21, 2025
Coaches often have a hard time enjoying the moment, especially during the season. Some can’t even enjoy championships because they are so focused on staying at the top. Day even admitted he never let himself think about what he would do if they won. He just let his instincts take over, and that was telling.
Does Day have some flaws as a coach? Sure, but he’s still young in terms of his head coaching career. It was just his sixth full season. Does he have to beat Michigan again soon? Yes. But after everything he went through this season, he deserved a chance to enjoy the moment.
He’s a better coach than people give him credit for. His players love him. His staff loves him. He’s one of three active coaches with a national title, joining Kirby Smart and Dabo Swinney. He’s also now one of five Ohio State head coaches with a national title, alongside Paul Brown, Woody Hayes, Jim Tressel and Urban Meyer.
Being in that type of company matters to Day.
“I just know that Ohio State is a special place,” he said. “It’s an honor to be here, an honor to be around some of those names that you just said, because when you hear some of those names like that, they’re some of the best coaches in the history of the game.”
He’ll eventually turn his focus to repeating as champions, and I will too in this space. But I wanted to lead my final thoughts from the national championship with that scene with Day. He deserved to soak it in.
GO DEEPER
Ryan Day’s family celebrates a long-awaited triumph after a trying season
How impressive was Ohio State’s Playoff run?
Every year in the preseason, we have a tendency to decide that the most talented team in the country should just win the national championship. I get it, but it’s not easy to win a national title, no matter how much talent is on the roster.
Because of the new 12-team Playoff, this run might’ve been the most difficult journey to a championship ever.
I caught safety Lathan Ransom before he went into the locker room after the game and asked him to put into words just how hard reaching the mountaintop was. His face lit up as he yelled, “Man, we played 16 games. Talking about hard, that was hard — we played 16 games.”
Not only was this a longer season, but what stands out is that of those 16 games, seven of them were against teams that finished in the top 10 of the final AP poll. Ohio State went 6-1 in those games, with its only top-10 loss coming to Oregon by one point on the road. The Buckeyes are the only team in college football history to beat four teams that finished in the top five and six that finished in the top 10. And with wins against Indiana, Penn State, Oregon, Texas and Notre Dame, Ohio State became the first team with five victories against teams ranked in the top five at the time of the game.
Ohio State’s final six games were against Indiana, Michigan, Tennessee, Oregon, Texas and Notre Dame. That’s five Playoff teams and an eight-win Michigan team that beat Alabama in the ReliaQuest Bowl.
GO DEEPER
AP Top 25: Ohio State No. 1 ahead of Notre Dame, Oregon in final poll
How does Ohio State stack up among blue bloods?
Ohio State has been one of the top blue-blood programs in the country for decades. The Buckeyes have nine championships and recruit on a national level that can only be matched by a handful of teams. In fact, nobody feels more “recession-proof” than Ohio State.
A lot can happen in college football to make a program experience a drop-off, like coaching changes, NCAA violations or even changes in the college football landscape.
Florida is a good example: The Gators were elite under Urban Meyer, going 13-1 three times with two national championships. But since he left, Florida has finished unranked in seven of 14 seasons. Ohio State has finished unranked seven times in the past 37 seasons.
Nick Saban built a dynasty at Alabama, and perhaps that foundation will be hard to crack, but the Crimson Tide finished unranked in seven of 10 seasons before he arrived and just saw their streak of 16 consecutive top-10 finishes end.
Ohio State has had 11 AP top-10 finishes in a row. (Jamie Squire / Getty Images)
Ohio State’s success has seemed to withstand a lot. Since the turn of the century, Ohio State has won three championships with three coaches in 2002 (Jim Tressel), 2014 (Meyer) and 2024 (Day). Its worst year — and only unranked finish since 2002 — was 6-7 under interim coach Luke Fickell after Tressel resigned. Meyer took over and immediately went 12-0 in 2012 before winning the title in 2014.
There are other great programs at the moment — Georgia is still at the top of the sport under Kirby Smart, and Clemson has had a great run in the Playoff era that included a bid in what was viewed as a down season in 2024 — but what’s clear is that Ohio State isn’t going anywhere. It’s because of a mix of the athletic administration making good decisions when it comes to finding the right head coaches, and also a dedicated fan base. Support never lapses, and the Buckeyes have figured out how to operate at a high level in the NIL world.
It takes a lot of people to win a national championship, and even more to sustain success the way Ohio State has. It’s been a perfect mix in Columbus, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to slow down anytime soon.
GO DEEPER
Mandel’s Mailbag: Can Ohio State build a 12-team CFP dynasty?
Why Will Howard the right quarterback for this team
When Howard let the ball go downfield to Jeremiah Smith, I was immediately taken back to the beginning of the season when that ball might have been overthrown or underthrown so much it would’ve given the defensive back time to make a play.
He’s improved a lot since then to become arguably the offensive MVP of the Playoff, completing 75 percent of his passes for 1,150 yards, eight touchdowns and two interceptions against Tennessee, Oregon, Texas and Notre Dame — all of which finished in the top 20 in pass efficiency defense. Howard finished third in the FBS in pass efficiency rating for the season.
As good as he was on the field, he was the perfect addition to this team from a personality standpoint, too. He is an experienced quarterback, so Ohio State trusted him enough to give him two or three plays in the huddle and for him to make a call based on the pre-snap coverage or defensive formation alignments. There’s no doubt he’s elevated his NFL Draft stock.
“When Will’s feet are right, he is as good as anybody I’ve been around. His accuracy, his ability to see, the way he commands the team, his work he puts in,” Day said. “I think the thing that nobody is probably going to understand how much credit he deserves is how much he can take on.”
The more you’re around Howard, the more you see how much this team went as he did. Day isn’t speaking in coaching cliches when he brags about Howard as a leader. Howard really was the driving force of the offense.
He always knew when to be calm, when to be the energy guy and, probably most importantly, how to handle the scrutiny that came with being Ohio State’s quarterback. More talented quarterbacks than him have struggled with that combination.
GO DEEPER
The unsung quarterback who tied Ohio State’s national title run together
Ohio State running backs were elite all season
Ohio State struggled to keep its running backs healthy to the end of the season in recent years. TreVeyon Henderson was always banged up, so adding Quinshon Judkins from the portal made a lot of sense. Once Henderson announced he was coming back, it looked like the best one-two combo in the country.
The question was how they would balance touches. Ohio State managed the duo well, as Judkins had 194 carries for 1,060 yards and Henderson had 144 carries for 1,016 yards. Most importantly, both looked fresh for the Playoff push.
Henderson was the game-changer in the Cotton Bowl win against Texas with the 75-yard screen pass, and Judkins had three touchdowns in the national championship win.
Both should be NFL running backs next year (Judkins could return if he wanted to, but I doubt that happens). We talk so much about the receivers on this roster, for good reason, but the backfield combination was a difference-maker.
GO DEEPER
Mandel’s Final Thoughts: The remarkable hero’s journey of Ryan Day’s Ohio State team
Run defense won Ohio State the title
Ohio State’s pass rush was a big part of its Playoff run, but the rushing defense was the biggest part of the defensive domination.
The Buckeyes gave up a total of 187 rushing yards in the first three games, and Notre Dame was supposed to be the biggest test of the postseason. But the Irish had more than 100 rushing yards in every game until finishing with just 53 against the Buckeyes. Ohio State stopped them from any explosive runs, as their longest run was 9 yards. It was the first time this season that Notre Dame didn’t have a run over 10 yards.
That’s a credit to Jim Knowles’ scheme, but also defensive tackles Ty Hamilton and Tyleik Williams. I thought Williams had been one of the most dominant players on the defense during the run, and Hamilton is one of the most underrated. They shut teams down inside and made things easier for the edge rushers and linebackers to contain it all.
GO DEEPER
The Athletic’s All-CFP Team: Will Howard, Cam Skattebo and more tournament stars
Fielding left the Michigan game as one of the most scrutinized Ohio State players after he missed two field goals, including a 34-yard attempt, in a three-point loss.
Things have changed. His 33-yard field goal clinched the game on Monday, and he went 4-of-5 in the Playoff, with his only miss from 56 yards against Tennessee. He didn’t miss an extra point all season and went 13-for-17 on field goals overall.
What’s next?
First comes the championship celebration at noon ET Sunday, a free event with more details to be released this week.
But there’s also the future to discuss. The transfer portal window opened on Tuesday for the players in the national championship and remains open for five days. By the weekend, we’ll know for sure which players are staying on the roster or going into the portal. As for the NFL Draft, eligible players have until Friday to decide if they want to declare, as well. So by Monday, Ohio State should know what its roster will look like next season.
The Buckeyes are No. 6 in Stewart Mandel’s initial Top 25 for 2025. Mandel’s No. 1 (Penn State) and No. 2 (Texas) are both set to visit Columbus.
GO DEEPER
Way too early Top 25 for the 2025 college football season
(Top photo of TreVeyon Henderson and Ryan Day: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
