July 23, 2024; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day speaks to the media throughout Large Ten Soccer Media Day at Lucas Oil Stadium. Obligatory Credit score: Robert Godin-USA TODAY Sports activities In late July, the climate is sizzling virtually in all places.
However in Columbus, Ohio, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day has been surrounded by controversy since 2021.
Shedding three video games in a row to Michigan will make followers sad with a coach who’s being paid tens of millions of {dollars} to not lose these video games.
With the Buckeyes’ offense beneath Chip Kelly in 2024, Day might knock off Michigan and provides new athletic director Ross Bjork 1,000,000 causes to not search for a brand new coach . Kelly appears overqualified as an offensive coordinator, like a university professor instructing center schoolers one thing like historical past.
Overkill, nonetheless, will be the subsequent step Ohio State must take beneath Day. In a tradition and program that’s graded solely on whether or not it wins all its video games, Day is 5-0.
That is the place Kelly is available in.
You possibly can argue how good Coach Kelly was at UCLA and in his two NFL stops. If you wish to aspect with “unworthy wage,” you are most likely proper.
However what’s indeniable is that Kelly has been nice at Oregon State, and he ought to be capable of take the Buckeyes’ offense from 0 to 60 greater than their followers took to social media throughout their three-straight loss to a pesky North rival. The collapse is even sooner.
“He is among the best play-callers in faculty soccer historical past,” Day stated of Kelly on Tuesday, the primary of three Large Ten convention media days in Indianapolis. “It offers me extra peace of thoughts… There’s lots of belief right here. I belief him with my life.”
Whereas the convention did not conduct a preseason media ballot, cleveland.com did. Of the 27 individuals polled, 21 believed Ohio State would emerge as champion from the 18-team Toffees match.
For a present with a nationwide fan base and a cult following, it would not take a lot to create excessive expectations. However combining Kelly’s elite offensive thoughts with a few of the most gifted gamers within the sport equals even larger promise.
“He’ll inform you he is very enthusiastic about what he has,” Day stated. “My job as head coach is to verify it’s a match throughout the board for complementary soccer.”
Large Ten coaches have been additionally heard Tuesday:
—Illinois coach Bret Bielema stated at first of the assembly that serving as the varsity’s head coach is essentially the most thrilling second of his life.
This will shock some, because the Preventing Illini have been ranked No. 13 within the preseason, down from their 2022 efficiency.
–Rutgers’ Greg Schiano stated, “It is time to go. It is time to make a mark.”
With the Scarlet Knights drafting the ninth general choose, Schiano feels good about his workforce and compares it to the nice groups he had when he first began taking part in within the mid-2000s, when the workforce had lots of Future NFL participant.
— Wisconsin’s Luke Fickell spoke extremely of Miami switch quarterback Tyler Van Dyke, saying he “has achieved an incredible job and I hope he continues to develop in a management position.” If Van Dijk performs as much as his skills, the Badgers might be higher than their projected seventh-place end.
–Northwestern’s David Braun stated the problem this 12 months is to duplicate final 12 months’s success, when the Wildcats improved from 1-11 to a stunning 8-5.
“Can we discover the identical degree of management on the workforce?” he requested.
—Purdue’s Ryan Walters stated he feels extra snug in his second season on the job. Waters has 37 new gamers on his roster, which is not anticipated to do a lot.
The Boilermakers completed 18th and final within the league.
——Bucky Dent, on-site media
