Ryan Day Gets Honest About What’s Changed Since Winning the National Title

Cradling the College Football Playoff national championship trophy in January, Ryan Day most likely felt a wave of relief wash over him. The Ohio State Buckeyes coach has arguably the most demanding job in sports, and the feel entering the upcoming season would be a lot different in Columbus had his crew not embarked on that legendary title run.

On Sunday, CBS Sports analyst Josh Pate discussed how he felt the win changed things for Day after the two spoke in a recent sit-down interview.

“Did you notice when we were up there last week … he said, ‘The only thing that’s changed about me is I’m gonna get the benefit of the doubt now.’ And he’s right about that,” Pate said on “Josh Pate’s College Football Show. “And he’s right in a couple of different ways. No. 1, there’s the benefit of the doubt that a national championship winner always gets. Did you make a questionable decision? Well, once you’ve won a national title, it all makes sense. All the questionable decisions make sense. Whereas, if you fail, you roll the dice and you fail, but you hadn’t won a title, then you’re just a poser.”

Ryan Day has admitted that scaling college football’s mountaintop has lifted a weight from his shoulders. He joined Clemson’s Dabo Swinney and Georgia’s Kirby Smart as the only active sports coaches to win a national crown.

“Definitely more relaxed,” Day said after the first day of spring ball in March. “To say I’m not is crazy. There’s no question. Yeah, we’re in a different place than we were a couple of months ago, I mean, let’s call it for what it is. But that doesn’t change, like, the approach. I think that’s the thing. …

I said it was kind of like when I had the opportunity to become the head coach at Ohio State, you know, you walk down the hall and you see Woody Hayes and (Jim) Tressel and Urban (Meyer) and (John) Cooper and Earle Bruce and, you know, you pinch yourself.

KEEP READING: Josh Pate Reveals How Coaches Viewed Ohio State’s Ryan Day Before CFP Title Win

“You know, a month later, you wake up and you’re like, ‘I’m the head coach at Ohio State.’ Like, ‘Man.’ It’s the same thing with winning a national championship. Like, some days you wake up and you almost forgot you won it. Because life just moves on. It just does. And it’s on to the next challenge.”

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