NCAAF News: Buckeyes HC Ryan Day makes something clear about his team's talent in addition to Will Howard

To achieve results in College Football, it often takes a strong roster to reach the goals. While all the attention has been focused on the natural talent of quarterback Will Howard, the Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day knows he has players on his team who have had a great season but haven’t received the recognition they deserve.

In recent statements to the press, Day spoke about the importance of several of his players throughout the season, emphasizing that their stories deserve to be told. Donovan Jackson, Lathan Ramson, and Tyleik Williams were some of the cases mentioned by the coach.

“I think if you just pick one, you’ll be taking away from somebody else,” Ryan Day started. “That’s why — Donovan Jackson, I could talk about him for 45 minutes. What he did this past year and the unselfishness and the play. I mean, he went from guard to tackle and became one of the best tackles in the country. He was going to the NFL, and then at the last second decided he wanted to come back and play.”

“Lathan Ransom, I could talk forever about Lathan Ransom,” the HC also added. “The fact that the last time he was at the Rose Bowl was when he broke his leg, and to have the courage to go play the way he did in that Rose Bowl at Oregon and the inspiration he’s had, these guys will tell you, you talk about a guy who just was, like, obsessed with winning this season, Lathan Ransom. You can just keep going through — like Ty Hamilton. You talk about one of the most unselfish, unsung heroes on this team, all he does is work. He comes in and works every single day. That’s all he does. He just works. That’s Ty Hamilton.”

Offensive lineman Donovan Jackson #74, Quarterback Will Howard #18 and Tight end Jelani Thurman #15 of the Ohio State Buckeyes walk off the field during a TV timeout in the game against the Indiana Hoosiers at Ohio Stadium on November 23, 2024 in Columbus, Ohio.

“All these stories need to be told now. They need to be heard. There’s so many of them, and hopefully, over the next few months, we can continue to talk about these stories, about these guys. A guy like Tyleik Williams, probably one of the more dominant players in college football this season.”

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“Again, we can go on for a while. That’s not for right now. But I’m just glad their stories will be heard and Buckeye fans will be able to enjoy those stories for a long time to come,” the HC finally concluded.

Enjoying the achievements despite the criticism

Ohio State managed to claim the NCAAF championship, yes. However, the journey to that point was far from easy for coach Ryan Day. After losing to the Michigan Wolverines, many turned against him with fierce criticism. The head coach was able to bounce back from this situation, and today, he enjoys the achievements he has earned.

“If you define your happiness by the results, then you can find yourself focusing on those things,” Ryan Day said. “I don’t. I’m just as proud of this team no matter what happened. But now the best thing is, again, you get to hear about these guys for the history of college football, and these guys get to go back to the Woody and put their arm around their wife and their kids and say, look what dad did. To me, that’s all that matters because that’s why you get into coaching. It isn’t to hoist trophies or make big contracts or anything like that. The reason you get into coaching is to help young men reach their dreams and goals, period. At least that’s what I and our staff are in this thing for.”

While Day’s tenure as head coach of the Buckeyes can be considered highly successful in terms of results, the coach knows he must live with the daily criticism from those who disagree with his decisions during the games.

“When that’s your focus, then you wake up and you realize that as awful as some things can happen during the season, you look at those as opportunities,” Day said. “And now you get to tell an unbelievable story behind it. That’s exactly what life is all about. Just the feeling of seeing our guys and the elation in the locker room, the euphoria, everything about it makes it all worth it. But again, that’s what life is all about. Nothing great was ever achieved without going through adversity along the way. That’s what makes this team special.”