Nick Saban came to Ryan Day’s defense on Friday’s College GameDay.
Asked about the criticism Day and Ohio State have received since the Buckeyes’ loss to Michigan three weeks ago, the legendary former Alabama coach and current College GameDay analyst implored Ohio State fans to support Day and his players as they prepare to play Tennessee in the first round of the College Football Playoff on Saturday night.
“They have an opportunity to win the national championship. Everybody ought to be supporting the hell out of them so that they have the best opportunity to do it and quit all this negative bullshit,” Saban said.
Saban said he has “a lot of respect for Ryan Day” and would advise Ohio State’s players not to pay attention to the outside noise.
“I used to tell the players all the time: Why do you care about what some guy puts on the Internet who's a fat guy in his underwear living in his mother's basement? Why do you care? Why does that mean anything to you? Why does that affect you in any way shape or form?” Saban said. “We should be focused on what we control and what we can do. And it's the same thing for the fans. I would tell the fans the same thing: If Ohio State wants to beat Michigan, they need to be positive about their coach and the players. There's nobody who wants to beat them worse than the players and the coaches.”
Saban said later that he views the fans as a part of the team and that the fans give their team the best chance to win by providing positive support.
“They shouldn’t have any greater expectations for the team than they have for themselves, and I think people that create a negative atmosphere regardless of the circumstance only hurt their chances of being successful,” Saban said.
While Saban took Day’s side during the GameDay crew’s conversation, former Michigan wide receiver Desmond Howard was more critical of Day. He said he thought Ohio State’s “all-in” approach to the 2024 season put too much pressure on Day and said his record warranted criticism even when Rece Davis retorted that Day is 66-10 as Ohio State’s head coach.
“The 10 are normally teams who are equal to him as far as roster and talent,” Howard said. “You’re talking about the other teams that he’s been able to beat, those teams normally don’t have four- or five-star guys.”
The GameDay crew’s conversation about Day came after ESPN played an interview that Davis conducted with Day earlier this week. In the interview, Day said the Buckeyes have turned their focus to the CFP rather than dwelling on the loss to Michigan but expressed that he understands how much the rivalry means to Ohio State fans and said he doesn’t think that will ever change.
“I think when you're the head coach at Ohio State, it's a great honor. Just like our players. And we want to win so much to make sure that we're doing right by these players, the fans, everybody that loves so much about Ohio State,” Day said. “We pour into this thing with everything that we have. And so when you don't succeed in some of those games, you feel it. And it's real.”
Saban, Howard, Davis and the rest of the College GameDay crew will be in Columbus for their second show in less than 24 hours as they broadcast live from Ohio State’s campus from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday morning on ESPN. Ohio State’s first-round CFP game vs. Tennessee will kick off at 8 p.m. at Ohio Stadium and will be televised on ABC and ESPN.
