When the Big Ten reinstated its fall 2020 college football season with Wednesday's announcement, it hit home for Ohio State and second-year head coach Ryan Day. The Buckeyes were on frontlines fighting for a safe return to play, from coaches to players and parents.
Upon the Big Ten's decision reversal, OSU took a breath of fresh air. After taking a break Thursday, Ohio State's practice Friday was the best Day said that he has seen in his past two decades of coaching.
"It was unbelievable," Day said Saturday on FOX's Big Noon Kickoff. "First off, it was emotional. There was a long wait here. There was a lot of things that happened, a lot of heartache over the last three, four weeks and listen — it was hard from last March to get to where we were preseason. We felt like we're in a great place and then we had to battle through an emotional month.
"And so, we actually took Thursday off to kind of catch our breath. And then Friday, we had one of the best practices I've been around in 10, 20 years. I mean, it was unbelievable. Guys were flying around, smiling, having fun with energy and, man, I just left that practice with a smile on my face. I'm so happy for these kids."
Day's predecessor and mentor, former Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer (2012-18), chimed in as an analyst on the show.
"Ryan, the system that we teach our players — E (event) plus R (response) equals O (outcome) — you can't control events," Meyer said. "You could not control the fact that they took football from you, your team and your players and your families. But the response was one of the best that I've ever witnessed. They told you, basically — the Big Ten office said to stand down, to, when that decision came down, 'We will not revisit this.'
"You — and how about the players? I've never been more impressed with (junior quarterback) Justin Fields and the families to come out there. The families, on their own dime, flew to (Big Ten offices in Rosemont, Illinois, and) go fight this thing out. If you believe in something, fight — and I mean fight — do it respectfully. And that's when I was — I have never been more impressed in my years in college athletics to see what you, your staff, but more importantly those players and their families did and that's congratulations. And how did it come all about?"
Day credited OSU's players and their parents for how they carried themselves throughout a recent stretch filled with unknowns.
"Appreciate you saying that, coach — well, it started off with our players and our parents," Day said. "They have a voice and when we recruit them, we talk about the platform. We talk about the stage that Ohio State offers and we believe in that in recruiting. Their voice matters and to see the families come together, to see the leaders come together and just talk about how they believe that they have an opportunity to play safely — and not one said they want to go out there and put their kids at risk, but they just want an opportunity to play safely.
"And so, just the way that everybody came together, it was unbelievable — everybody involved — and I'm just really, really proud of our players."
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September 20, 2020 at 08:30AM
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Ohio State's Ryan Day opens up on Big Ten season reinstatement - 247Sports
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