It was only a matter of when, not if, this topic was broached. And likely not for the last time either.
Given Ohio State’s 6-0 start to the 2019 season, and given his previous stints in the NFL, it was a given that Ryan Day‘s name would pop up when the big boy football league’s coaching rumor mill began spinning. This week, that rumor mill officially kicked into high gear as Washington fired its head coach, Jay Gruden, with former Nebraska head coach Bill Callahan stepping in on an interim basis.
Already, Day has been connected to that opening in D.C. Tuesday, the first-year full-time head coach was asked about his name being linked to that NFL job and essentially stated the only thing a coach in his situation could.
“Being at a place like Ohio State, anytime there’s success, things like this are going to come up,” the coach said of the speculation. “I don’t ever want to talk about any of that stuff.
“I love it here, and this is where I want to be. Whether it’s good, bad, or indifferent for the next five, 10, or hopefully 20 years that I’m here, I don’t want to comment.”
Ryan Day has been mentioned as a candidate for the Redskins job, and he'll likely be targeted by other NFL teams.
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) October 8, 2019
The @OhioStateFB coach addressed the rumors today.
"I love it here, and this is where I want to be." pic.twitter.com/FOdb9y8ldZ
Day, who was a quarterbacks coach for two different NFL teams in 2015 and 2016 before coming to Columbus, added some insight as to why he prefers the college game to the pros. From elevenwarriors.com:
Day has OSU moving up in the rankings, tied for third with Georgia in the Associated Press Top 25 (and receiving 10 first-place votes) after beginning the season fifth. The Buckeyes’ offense is fourth in the nation in scoring at 49.3 points per game, while its scoring defense is tied for third (with Iowa) at 8.8 ppg.
After the first of two bye weekends of the 2019 season, OSU will travel to Evanston Oct. 18 to face 1-4 Northwestern in a Week 8 matchup.