SOUTH BEND, Ind. – “It’s always been Ohio against the world!”
That’s a collection of words that actually came out of Ryan Day’s mouth after his team went to South Bend and knocked off Notre Dame in a top-10 matchup over the weekend.
Some of the words, but not all. Honestly, that wasn’t even the most embarrassing quote.
Voice cracking and all sanity out the window, Day took the postgame interview as an opportunity to call out an 86-year-old man and frame his football powerhouse university as a team that constantly has to overcome the odds.
“I’d like to know where Lou Holtz is right now,” Day said. “What he said about our team, what he said about our team, I cannot believe. This is a tough team right here. We’re proud to be from Ohio. It’s always been Ohio against the world, and it will continue to be Ohio against the world.”
Here’s the video for anyone who, like me, can’t believe that this quote is real:
And here’s Ryan Day fired up over Lou Holtz: pic.twitter.com/kYkGAn5BAt
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 24, 2023
Whew, there’s a lot to unpack here. Let’s start with the Lou Holtz stuff.
Holtz, as most of you probably know, is a former football coach who is best known for his time at Notre Dame during the ‘80s and ‘90s.
Here are the comments that apparently got Day’s pants in a bundle:
Here’s what Lou Holtz said on @PatMcAfeeShow that Ryan Day angrily referred to after Ohio St. beat Notre Dame: pic.twitter.com/r1Ju4pwl00
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 24, 2023
So Holtz was brought on stage, in front of hundreds of Notre Dame fans, and said Notre Dame was going to win? The audacity!
He didn’t attack individual Ohio State players. He didn’t call them soft. All he said was that when Day loses games at Ohio State, it’s typically because the other team is more physical. Not only is that not a personal attack, it’s objectively true.
The guy is 86 years old and was probably told to say something that would fire up the crowd. I guess if that’s what it takes for Day to manufacture a chip on his shoulder, so be it.
Now let’s talk about the “Ohio against the world” part. This reminds me of when Travis Kelce said nobody believed that the No. 1 seed Kansas City Chiefs could win the Super Bowl after going 14-3.
Ohio State was favored to win at Notre Dame. In fact, the Buckeyes have never been an underdog during a regular season game under Day.
This man took over a program that went 61-5 the previous five years under Urban Meyer and had more talent than any team not named Alabama or Georgia. It would be like if someone let me coach the Atlanta Braves against the Savannah Bananas and I tried to play the underdog role.
“Braves against the world! Nobody thought we could beat those guys!”
I understand that Day is sensitive about his team’s toughness, and it can’t be fun to listen to people say things like Holtz did on live television. But Ohio State has lived such a charmed life that going 11-2 with a last-second loss to the eventual national champions in the playoff semifinal is enough to put a coach on the hot seat, so there isn’t an “Ohio vs. anybody.”
Obviously the goal here was for Day to look like an inspiring leader to his players. He’s standing up for the plucky, misunderstood Buckeye football program. “Oh captain, my captain,” sort of thing. Maybe it worked in the locker room, but watching from the outside, it was hard not to cringe.
