Skull Session: Welcome to The Day Dynasty

By Chase Brown on December 1, 2025 at 5:00 am
Ryan Day
Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images
75 Comments

Welcome to the Skull Session.

A picture is worth 1,000 words.

Have a great Monday.

 ORDER RESTORED. They did it. They finally did it.

 WELCOME TO THE DAY DYNASTY. Ryan Day is the best coach in America.

Not one of the best. 

Not in the conversation.

Not trending upward. 

The best. 

He’s leading the No. 1 team in the country with a 12–0 record, a national title in his back pocket and the strongest résumé in the sport over the last two seasons. For years, Kirby Smart held that crown without debate. And he’s still elite. Still a powerhouse. Still the architect of Georgia’s greatest era. But the sport lives in the present tense and right now only one coach is operating at the highest level — the one wearing a Block O on his chest.

During his seven years as Ohio State’s head coach, Day has consistently made moves to improve his program. He’s not afraid to own up to mistakes and he’s never stopped looking for ways to get better. He hired two of the sport's best defensive coordinators — first Jim Knowles, then Matt Patricia — to give the Buckeyes elite schemes and flexibility on that side of the ball. He gave up play calling to Chip Kelly in 2024 and then handed the reins to Brian Hartline in 2025, trusting his assistants while still shaping the program’s identity as a CEO.

He is a coach who evolves, who adapts, who puts the team and the program ahead of his ego. And it shows not just on the field but off it. Day has built a program that runs cleanly and consistently with players accountable and focused — a sharp contrast to some other elite programs (like Smart's!) where off-field issues often make headlines. That combination of on-field dominance and program stability makes Day even more impressive.

And the results speak for themselves. As Ohio State’s head coach, Day is 82–10 with four College Football Playoff appearances (soon to be five) and two national championship appearances. He has the best winning percentage in college football history, ranking ahead of Notre Dame’s Knute Rockne. Since last season's loss to Michigan, he’s gone 16–0 with seven wins over ranked teams, including a perfect 4–0 record against top-five opponents. This year, Ohio State is undefeated, untouchable and preparing to face 12–0 Indiana in the Big Ten Championship Game.

Day’s near-misses tell a story of just how close he’s been to even greater success and how resilient he is in the face of heartbreak. In 2019, he was a scoop-and-score away from facing LSU in the national championship game. In 2022, a missed Noah Ruggles field goal kept Ohio State out of the final, where nearly everyone agrees the Buckeyes would have beaten TCU. Through it all, Day’s teams have continued to win, learn and improve. For a first-time head coach, the trajectory he’s built is extraordinary. He keeps getting back up off the mat, and it shows in every game, every season and every milestone he achieves.

And let’s talk about Michigan. The narrative. The weight. The noise. For years, every conversation about Day circled back to The Game. Fair or not, it became the prism through which the national media — and plenty of fans — judged him. On Saturday, Day walked into Ann Arbor and shattered the storyline. Ohio State beat Michigan for the first time since 2019, doing it with toughness, discipline and a team that looked built for the moment. That win didn’t just flip a rivalry; it flipped the perception of the program’s ceiling under Day. Everything people said he couldn’t do, he did.

Even in a moment of triumph, Day’s humility was on full display.

“I’ve thought, as you can imagine, over the years, after winning this game, what I would say in this press conference. I’m gonna save all those comments because I think the best thing to do is win with humility. That’s what we’re gonna do,” Day said. “I think that speaks to our program and speaks to what it means to be a Buckeye. We wanted to take this rivalry game back this year. The way that our guys played certainly spoke to that. They played with great passion and great physicality.”

He also took full responsibility for Ohio State's failure to win the game in previous years.

“You take it personally. I understand what it means. My family has been here nine years now, so there’s nobody that wants to win this game more than me,” Day said. “But to win this game, it’s just a great moment. It’s one of those moments that you want to grab on for a while and just enjoy it. To see the joy in everyone’s face is really what this thing is all about. That’s what being a head coach is. It’s not about you. It’s not about raising trophies. It’s not about winning games. It’s about pouring back into the people that are around you. 

“When I say people, it’s the players, it’s the coaches, it’s their families and the fans. Winning just gives us the opportunity to continue to do that, to make an impact. Everyone, the fans and all of our supporters can recognize all the work that gets put in. When it doesn’t go the right way, nobody wavered. We hung in there. It isn’t easy — nothing about this profession is easy. But I’m proud of the men we have and happy they got this win.”

That is Ryan Day, the coach, the leader, the architect of a program that values people as much as victories.

The respect is growing nationally, especially among his peers. Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti said on Sunday, “Ryan Day is a great coach. He’ll be one of the legends of the game someday.” Cignetti is always blunt — he doesn’t share anything he doesn’t mean with complete conviction — and his praise carries weight because he knows exactly what it takes to compete at this level.

The truth is simple: Kirby Smart built the standard, but Ryan Day has surpassed it — at least for now. He has the best record, the best team, the best wins, the best big-game résumé, the best off-field program and the best trajectory heading into December. Ohio State is the sport’s model program as it has been for decades, but for the first time in forever, the sport’s best coach is leading it.

Finally, Day’s win over Michigan could be the linchpin in building a dynasty at Ohio State. If the Buckeyes win another national championship this year, it wouldn’t just be a repeat — it would be the first time Ohio State has ever won back-to-back titles. Day would also become only the second coach in program history to win multiple championships in Columbus, joining the legendary Woody Hayes.

The stage is set. The pieces are in place. And Day is running the show. He is the best coach in America, and he’s just getting started.

 THIS DOES PUT A SMILE ON MY FACE. In the famous words of Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes:

Now I've had the time of my life
No, I never felt like this before
Yes, I swear it's the truth
And I owe it all to you
'Cause I've had the time of my life
And I owe it all to you

You being the World Famous Ohio State Buckeyes.

 SWEET, SWEET, SCHADENFREUDE. In the famous words of The Black Eyed Peas:

Now I've had the time of my life
No, I never felt like this before
Yes, I swear it's the truth
And I owe it all to you
'Cause I've had the time of my life
And I owe it all to you

You being Michigan fans crying on social media:

 SONG OF THE DAY. "Carmen Ohio" - TBDBITL. (I've been waiting four years to choose this song after The Game! Goodbye, Johnny Cash's Hurt!)

 CUT TO THE CHASE. Time for soul searching as Ohio State beats Michigan at its own game... How Michigan Football got beat at its own game vs. Ohio State... Michigan's loss to Ohio State is a reality check: Why it happened, what comes next and early offseason thoughts... Another unremarkable Michigan football season ends with a loss to Ohio State... Drama-free win by Ohio State shows Michigan has wide gap to close.

75 Comments

Screencap Recap: The Best Moments from Ohio State's 27-9 Win at Michigan

Hang this in a museum

With Win Over Michigan, Ryan Day Checks the Last Box to Prove He’s One of College Football’s Elite Coaches

Ryan Day
View 75 Comments