We're one day away from crowning a national champion.
For one final time before their programs square off in Monday night's title game, Ryan Day and Nick Saban met with the media to toss compliments about each other's program back and forth.
A bullet-point rundown of what they said:
Ryan Day
- Day calls Saban "one of the greatest coaches in the history of college football" and that the Buckeyes are excited for the "great challenge" to play Alabama.
- He says it's "not the way we drew it up" but that they're grateful and excited for a shot to win a national championship.
- Day called it "certainly a strange road to get here" after the path the Buckeyes took to get to the national title game.
- Day says that Ohio State's 2017 class "will go down as one of the best groups" to ever come through the program. He said that a lot of the guys in the 2018 class have done a good job of making a push to get on the field early and that's part of what makes those players special.
- Day: "No one ever talks about getting to the national championship, we talk about winning a national championship."
- He said "ultimately this is the final goal, and that's what all the focus is on right now."
- Just to get to this point could be considered a point of pride, but Day says that if you begin getting happy just to be in the game "it becomes a distraction. ... We have too good of an opponent to prepare for to be thinking about that."
- Day said that "at the end of the time it comes down to who can execute and do their job." It's all about preparation and execution, he says.
- Sean McDonnell was a major influence on Day as a coach and now his son is on Day's staff at Ohio State: "It's a small coaching world."
- Day says Alabama is "well-coached" and "really talented on the back end."
- He said "you never know how this game is gonna play out" and that Alabama "is really talented and as clean on offense as I've ever seen."
- Day says that Justin Fields "has had a really good week of practice." He said Fields' level of preparation for the Clemson game was impressive and that Fields felt great going into that game after the week prep he put in. He says it's been a similar week of preparation for the national championship game.
- Day has been impressed with Najee Harris: "He's a complete player. Very versatile. Maybe the most versatile guy we've seen all year."
- Day says Ohio State adjusts their schemes to the players' skillsets that they bring into the program: "The art of coaching college football is adjusting your scheme to utilize the personnel you have in that moment."
Nick Saban
- As part of an opening statement, Saban said Alabama is excited to get the chance to compete with a program such as Ohio State's. He said he's been impressed with how Day runs his program.
- Saban said Alabama defensive back Malachi Moore is “very questionable” for the national championship game after missing the national championship with an injury, and defensive lineman LaBryan Ray is “more probable.”
- Saban and Day were asked if they have any "superstitions" about strategies for handling the coin toss and each succinctly said no.
- Jaylen Waddle "has been able to practice" a bit, Saban says, and Saban said that Waddle is "a game-time decision" and that they'll know whether or not he can play closer to kickoff.
- Saban says that Steve Sarkisian has done "a great job" of balancing duties between preparing for this game and getting ready to take over as head coach at Texas: "I think our coaching staff has done a really good job working with our players."
- Saban says being in a game like this can be a big recruiting boost: "Our program is built to try and create value and have success later in life. ... Certainly a game like this allows you to be the center of attention for now and possibly beyond."
- Saban calls Trey Sermon "a really, really good player" and that Ohio State's "really good scheme" helps the Buckeyes maintain a good balance between the run and pass game. He says Sermon has "taken advantage" of Ohio State putting him in a good position to make plays.
- Saban told his players before the year that those who adjust this season will be the most successful, and he believes that's rang true.
