The Ohio State Buckeyes should not fire a head coach in Ryan Day who has a 56-7 overall record since taking over for Urban Meyer at the start of the 2019 season and has made the College Football Playoff in three of the four seasons since he took the job, though he's unlikely to make that four-of-five this year.
But when it comes to the feelings in Columbus, it's not just about wins and losses overall -- it's about wins and losses against the best of the best and, most importantly, against Michigan. To this point, that's where Ryan Day has struggled.
With the third consecutive loss to Michigan on Saturday to conclude Ohio State's regular season at 11-1, Day is now a dismal 1-3 against the rival Wolverines. More shockingly, six of his seven total losses as the OSU head coach have come against Top 5 opponents, three obviously against Michigan. He has just one win in such games too.
With the heat and stink of another Michigan loss on him, Ohio State fans were calling for Ryan Day's job. Again, that's probably not going to happen... but with rumors that Texas A&M has Day as a target, they might be able to part ways. In any case, though, the Buckeyes would be looking for a replacement and these five names could make sense in Columbus.
5. Ohio State could just bring back Urban Meyer to erase Ryan Day
Let's get this one out of the way. If Ohio State firest Ryan Day or the head coach leaves for another job, there will be calls to bring Urban Meyer back. Never mind the fact that he retired from the job, has stated relentlessly that he no longer wants to be in coaching, and failed spectacularly in the NFL, the calls will still come.
And for fans in Columbus, why wouldn't they? Meyer was absurdly successful with the Buckeyes, taking over a team that had a losing record for the first time in over two decades and immediately going 12-0. All told, he accrued an 83-9 overall record at Ohio State with three Big Ten Championships, five conference division crowns and the 2014 National Championship.
Meyer is a proven winner when it comes to college football. Whether at Bowling Green, Utah, Florida or OSU, all the man did was have his teams competing at the highest possible level and in the national championship mix -- yes, even in Salt Lake City. So why not try to erase what Day has wrought in Columbus in recent years by going back to the guy who built the Buckeyes back up?
Again, this is unlikely given that Meyer seems unlikely to coach again at all. Having said that, if Ohio State were to come calling again, he may at least consider the offer, which is enough to have fans intrigued by the possibility of a return.
4. Luke Fickell could get his actual dream job now at Ohio State
It might be hard to pull off, but Luke Fickell is going to be connected to any vacancy that should arise in Columbus.
Fickell played for the Buckeyes as a nose guard when he was in college and ultimately was a part of the staffs for both Jim Tressell and Urban Meyer at Ohio State, spending 11 total seasons as a co-defensive coordinator with the Buckeyes. He was also the interim head coach for the 2011 season after Tressell resigned and before Meyer was hired, though most fans would like to forget that as the team went 6-7.
Following the 2016 season, though, Fickell was hired by Cincinnati and we saw the elite Group of 5 program he built with the Bearcats. You can't discredit the amount of hard work from a head coach it takes to get a team from the American Athletic Conference into the College Football Playoff, but by god, Fickell did that.
That ultimately earned him the Wisconsin Badgers job where he oddly coached the bowl game at the end of last year and then had his first full season in Madison in 2023. The success was limited as some philosophical changes created hardships, but a 7-5 record considering that is not all that bad.
Just recently arriving at Wisconsin could make Fickell and expensive option for Ohio State. However, for a program that likes to have one of their own in the building and in charge oftentimes, there might not be a bigger name connected to Columbus than Fickell, at least not one with his illustrious track record. So if Day were to be ousted, you can bet that Fickell would get a long, hard look.
3. Promoting Jim Knowles from DC to replace Ryan Day would be smart
Whenever Ryan Day recognized the need for Ohio State's defense to improve following the first of now three losses against Michigan (and the entire 2021 season as a whole), he and the administration went out and grabbed a big fish, then-Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles.
While it wasn't an immediate fix for the Buckeyes defense in the 2022 season, the unit did improve from the previous year. But that group then made leaps and bounds in the 2023 campaign, emerging as a necessary force with the Ohio State offense looking lesser than in previous seasons as Kyle McCord struggled to establish himself at quarterback.
Knowles has been well-traveled throughout college football, serving as the Cornell head coach from 2004-09 before heading to Duke as the defensive coordinator for eight seasons, then spending four years with Oklahoma State before being on Day's staff for the past two years.
Over that time, Knowles has established himself as a great recruiter, a phenomenal schematic mind, and a winner. And given that he's already in Columbus, it wouldn't be a hard sell to try and keep him there -- and it might make a lot of sense given the circumstances.
Especially if Day were to leave for another job instead of being fired, Knowles would be a smart hire to maintain the continuity in terms of both the defense and recruiting. Yes, he would need to evaluate if current offensive coordinator Brian Hartline could continue Day's work with the offense (or even better it), but there are good things ongoing with the Buckeyes that need to remain intact. To make that happen and given what he's earned, Knowles could be the guy in that scenario.
2. Mike Vrabel might be the top target to return to Ohio State
Speaking of Ohio State legacies, that's going to lead a lot of people to look the way of Mike Vrabel.
Before he began his NFL playing career and eventually becoming a Patriots legend along with a three-time Super Bowl champion, Vrabel played his college football with the Buckeyes. Following the conclusion of his playing career, he then joined Luke Fickell's staff for the 2011 season as the OSU linebackers coach. He stayed on Urban Meyer's staff for two more seasons thereafter before heading back to the NFL.
After three seasons as a Texans assistant and one as the defensive coordinator, he became the Tennessee Titans head coach in 2018 and has served in that role since. Over that time, he has a 51-41 overall record in Nashville, including going 2-3 in the playoffs. More impressive is he's done this with Derrick Henry and a lot of revolving parts.
With the Titans currently in a period of transition, though, Vrabel's future is uncertain. That might not be fair to him, though, given the way he's made truly the best out of some questionable situations since he took over as head coach. But if he is indeed on his way out, then Ohio State would be foolish to not make the call if they need to replace Day.
Vrabel is intimately familiar with Ohio State as both a player and an assistant, particularly notable for his work with Meyer and the success that was had then. If he could come back home to Columbus and deploy many of those same strategies, it could be a home run hire, especially with his proven ability as an NFL head coach.
1. Lane Kiffin could be a home-run Ryan Day replacement at Ohio State
Because of how things went for Lane Kiffin at Tennessee and then at USC, there has seemingly long been a bit of a cloud hanging over the current Ole Miss coach. But what some people often appear to overlook is that being Tarmac'd can change a man, sometimes for the better.
For Kiffin, that does appear to be the case. Yes, he's a showman who is never afraid of some antics. However, amid all of the "Get your popcorn ready" type of quotes, he's become a proven winner. His offenses at Alabama were electric and dominant, he produced two 10+ win seasons in three years at FAU, and has won 10 games at Ole Miss in two of the past three years with a 33-15 overall record for the Rebels, legitimately unprecedented regular-season success in Oxford.
What's important to note about all of that too is that he's made the most out of limited situations. The recruiting and resources at FAU are limited in comparison to Power 5 jobs, just as Ole Miss is behind some of the SEC elites in their resources. And while he hasn't gotten the Rebels on that level, he's been nipping at their heels at the top of the second tier of late.
Now imagine a more matured Lane Kiffin than we saw at USC and Tennessee with the resources that Ohio State can offer. He's an offensive wizard with an eye for talent, an aggressive, analytics-friendly mindset, a strong recruiting pedigree, and a willing participant in the transfer portal to find roster upgrades. It almost sounds like he's a better version of Ryan Day...
There might be only a select few jobs that could lure Kiffin away from Ole Miss, but the prestige of Ohio State would be one of them. If there truly is any chance of Ryan Day no longer being the head coach of the Buckeyes, then Lane Kiffin should be the first (and second, and third) call that the administration makes to replace him.
