Ryan Day deserved to feel vindication when he won a national championship less than two months after it seemed his Ohio State job was on the line.
That relief only lasts so long. Day made that clear when it was suggested to him on Tuesday morning that Monday night's 34-23 national championship game victory over Notre Dame meant he would feel less pressure to win big in the 2025 season.
鈥淭ry losing the first game and see how that goes at Ohio State,鈥� Day said.
Leading the Buckeyes to their first national title since 2014 earned Day redemption when so many questioned his ability to win the big game following his fourth straight loss to Michigan in November.
Day praised his players, saying they deserved to be mentioned with the greatest teams in Ohio State history. Quarterback Will Howard, wearing a 鈥淣ational Champs鈥� cap, and linebacker Cody Simon joined Day at Tuesday's College Football Playoff champions news conference.
鈥淚鈥檓 proud of these guys,鈥� Day said. 鈥淎nd again, we鈥檒l go down in history and cement themselves as champions."
Day didn't say that he similarly deserved his place on the list of coaches who have led the Buckeyes to national championships. It includes Urban Meyer, Jim Tressel, Woody Hayes and Paul Brown.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an honor,鈥� Day said when asked about joining that roster of greats. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an honor to be the head coach at Ohio State. I鈥檇 probably say that this job is not for everybody."
Day earned his spot in Ohio State and college football history.
There were unexpected bumps, including on the golf cart ride to Monday night's postgame news conference. The CFP's driver misjudged the turning radius of the cart, driving the vehicle into a wall outside the Ohio State locker room with Day sitting in the front row and Howard, howling with laughter, in the back row.
The impact caused Day to lurch forward in his seat.
鈥淥bviously the golf cart incident was pretty funny,鈥� Howard said Tuesday. 鈥淐oach Day, I hope you鈥檙e all right. He got jolted a little bit.鈥�
Said Day: 鈥淪end the medical bills to the CFP.鈥�
Day won't need help paying any bills. His financial reward was a $500,000 bonus for the championship game win, added to $500,000 bonuses already earned and his $10 million base salary.
Day鈥檚 generous compensation came for surviving the challenges of a long season, including the CFP鈥檚 first 12-team playoff.
With five national titles, Hayes set a standard that may never be matched at Ohio State. Meyer coached the 2014 championship team.
Ohio State was No. 1 in the final AP Top 25 of the season, followed by Notre Dame.
Day is 68-10 in his six seasons, but winning 87.2% of his games seemed easy to overlook when he suffered his fourth consecutive loss to Michigan and fell short of the Big Ten championship game.
鈥淣one of us ever doubted for a second that he was the right guy to lead this team,鈥� Howard said. 鈥淲e stuck together and we said we want to do it for each other, we want to do it for our coach, and let鈥檚 do this thing, man. I鈥檓 really glad that we were able to finish it the right way.鈥�
Added Simon: 鈥淣o one ever on our team lost any type of faith.鈥�
Simon said he realized 鈥渢here鈥檚 noise all over the world鈥� following the loss to Michigan. He said his faith in Day was based on knowing how hard the coach worked every time he reported to the practice facility and saw Day was already there.
鈥淵ou think you鈥檙e getting work done and you go and walk past the head coach office and he鈥檚 already there,鈥� Simon said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 been watching film. His eyes are bloodshot. He puts that extra time in that no one in the world is really putting in.鈥�
As the clock expired on Monday night, Day hurled his headset into the air.
Asked Tuesday if he felt happiness or relief at the time, Day said 鈥淚 guess both.鈥�
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if it鈥檚 a spectrum. All of the above. Yeah, all of the above," he said. "There鈥檚 a mix of emotions there. It鈥檚 hard to really put into words.鈥�
