Ryan Days shoots down one theory about Ohio State's mindset heading into game against Tennessee Vols
There are plenty of fans and media who believe that Ohio State head coach Ryan Day's job could be in trouble if the Buckeyes don't make a deep run in the 12-team College Football Playoff. For that reason, there are some folks who think that Ohio State might be looking past their first round matchup […]
There are plenty of fans and media who believe that Ohio State head coach Ryan Day's job could be in trouble if the Buckeyes don't make a deep run in the 12-team College Football Playoff.
For that reason, there are some folks who think that Ohio State might be looking past their first round matchup against the Tennessee Vols to a potential rematch with the Oregon Ducks in the quarterfinals.
Day, however, said that's absolutely not the case while speaking with reporters earlier this week.
“Oh, jeez. Yeah. No. We’re not there at all," said Day when asked about possibly looking past Tennessee. "No, we've got to win this first game. We got to win this first game. We got to and then build from there. There’s no question. I don’t think there’s one person in this building that’s looking way down the road other than the fact that when they look at who we may play down the road, we played some of those guys already.
"So, I think there’s a bunch of confidence in the fact that we know what these guys are like…..That being said, you got to win this game. I’ve already talked to our guys about that last week. When you’re in this style of play, you got to get that first win. You got to get started and build some momentum into the playoffs. So, that’ll be our focus in making sure we win this game.”
"We’ve played some of these teams before," continued Day when further asked about Ohio State's path to a championship. "We know what they look like. We know what it feels like. Now, Tennessee is not one of them. So this is gonna be new, and so we gotta go to work. And that’s where the focus is gonna be because, as you know, the hardest one to get is the first one, and then we’ll go from there. But I think that’s a big part of the excitement of our guys when they look at the 12 teams. You know, there’s nobody up there that they say, you know, we can’t beat those guys. We feel like there’s everybody in the draw we can beat. Now we gotta do it one at a time. And we gotta make sure that we’re in the first game.”
That's the right sentiment from Day, but it's hard to believe that he's not thinking about what lies ahead for himself and the Buckeyes. It's human nature, after all.
With Day's job status beyond the playoff in doubt, he was named by The Athletic this week as the head coach that's under the most pressure in the playoff.
"Nothing short of a national championship will turn fan sentiment fully in Day’s favor," wrote The Athletic's Ralph Russo. "In fact, some Buckeyes fans would still remain skeptical because of the four-game losing streak against Michigan. Bottom line: No team has faced more pressure this season, and no coach in the CFP needs at least one victory more than Day."
Elite coaches do a great job of keeping their team in the moment and not looking ahead. It sounds like Day is going to do his best to keep his team that mindset. But with so much uncertainty swirling around Day's job, it would be understandable if the sixth-year Ohio State head coach is a bit distracted heading into what could be the final game of his career in Columbus.
Tennessee Vols defender says game against Ohio State will be ‘personal’ for him
That’s how you approach a big game
