Joel Klatt explains what emotional postgame moment said about Ryan Day

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day went viral Saturday night for his postgame interview on NBC where he passionately defended his team against its critics, most notably former Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz. The reactions to the speech were mixed.

But Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt said it wasn’t meant for the entire college football world. As he explained on the most recent episode of The Joel Klatt Show, it was meant for the Buckeyes community.

“Ryan immediately in the postgame unleashes this rant on the narrative that I was just talking about,” Klatt said. “Unleashes this rant on the narrative and specifically on Lou Holtz. I was like, wow. Again, 32,000 feet in the air. I’m watching this on TV on the airplane and I’m like, ‘is he going — Oh, yep, he absolutely is.’ It was awkward. I was like, Ooo, I don’t know. Is this the right way to go? And then I immediately think to myself, No, you know what this is. This is exactly what he wanted for the people that want to receive it.”

The Buckeyes won on a last-second touchdown from Chip Trayanum that put Ohio State up 17-14.

Ohio State had led 3-0 at the half before the two teams exchanged touchdowns in the third and fourth quarter.

“Is this going to hit for everybody?” Klatt said. “No. If you’re a Michigan fan, he looks thin-skinned. If you’re a crusty old pundit and you cover college football and want to be angry at everything, then you think that he’s being silly and that he’s being frivolous and, again, thin-skinned and whiny. If you’re not, then you’re probably an Ohio State fan.

“If you’re not, you’re probably an Ohio State player or a staff member. Guess what, he was speaking to them. At that moment, he’s speaking to them and for them. In this political world that we live in, it’s like a rally for a candidate at that point. He’s speaking to his base. He’s talking about the narrative ends tonight. We had one bad half two years ago. What is this? You’re a joker. Don’t talk about my kids that way. Every Buckeye fan and every book I player is immediately thinking to themselves: ‘Yes, that’s my coach.’ And that’s what he was doing this for.”

Ryan Day’s postgame speech likely did its job

Joel Klatt did add that Ryan Day was being genuine during his postgame speech and it wasn’t just a work for the Ohio State fanbase. He clearly felt what he was saying and the vigor with which he was saying it.

“Was there anger?” Klatt said. “Yes. Did it feel spiteful? Yeah. It did. And I get it and if you want to take it that other direction, you know what? Be my guest. But I’m just telling you, it wasn’t for you. It wasn’t for you. Ryan was talking to his base.

“This guy has taken more heat than probably any coach in America and he’s one of the most successful coaches in America over the last four or five years, whether it was his assistant tenure, or now his head coaching tenure and what he’s done at Ohio State. He takes massive heat, and the narrative builds and his family hears it. He’s never reacted to it. And this was kinda like bwah, it was like Rage Monster from Dude Perfect. Like here he came. I thought it was incredible.”

The Buckeyes have a tough schedule going forward with likely two more top-10 matchups forthcoming this season. Next month, they host Penn State and then they will end at the season at Michigan.

The season still has a long way to go but Saturday was a memorable moment of the Day era for the comeback nature of the win and the passion he displayed afterwards.

“If you’re an Ohio State fan, you think he has your back,” Klatt said. “If you’re an Ohio State player, you think he has your back. That’s who it was meant for. That’s who it was meant for? And it looked like a man, not a coach, but a man who had been internalizing and shouldering that name, that narrative for all of those people that he loves, whether it’s his family or his players, or his staff, or those those fans that he knows and loves and he was shouldering it for them and internalizing it for them.

“And he just broke. He’s like, this is the game. This is the point that it ends. So if you didn’t like it wasn’t for you. And if you did, he was speaking to his base. Let’s move on.”