Ryan Day can see 'look in their eye' from Buckeyes ahead of training camp
INDIANAPOLIS — Ohio State coach Ryan Day sounded like every other coach at this time of year.
He said all the right things in his first of three media settings inside Lucas Oil Stadium on Wednesday. The Buckeyes look good. They’re back with a chip on their collective shoulder, an old cliche that is used every July.
“There has been an edge to them,” Day said Wednesday morning. “There’s been a different look in their eye.
“I’ll just leave it at that.”
But the difference this fall, as Day stood on the same turf the Buckeyes didn’t make it to in the Big Ten title game a year ago, is that the ‘chip on the shoulder’ is real. Ohio State didn’t accomplish its goals last season.
Day has kept that the theme of the offseason. Because the expectations placed on the Buckeyes aren’t changing any time soon.
“I think the thing that’s unique about Ohio State is every year, we’re expected to win the whole thing,” Day said. “And that’s part of the deal here. A lot of times you go 11-2 and Rose Bowl, you say it’s one heck of a season. Well, not around here. And we knew that going in, and and our goal is every year is to beat [Michigan], win the Big Ten championship and win the national championship. So we didn’t get those things last year. The expectations don’t change year in and year out at Ohio State. We all know that. So is it different this year? No. The team is different, though.
The Buckeyes were among the youngest teams in the country last year. They understand that was part of the reason they lost two games, a ‘down season’ for a group that wants to win a national title every year.
That can’t be the case this year. Ohio State is too talented to miss another shot at collecting a Big Ten title trophy and getting to the College Football Playoff after a year away from it. Day knows that.
“I think that we have more experience than we had last year,” he said. “We have a veteran quarterback coming back and a lot more guys on defense who are more veteran. And a new scheme on defense. So every year is different. But the expectations are the same.”
So sure, Ryan Day, like every other coach present at Big Ten Media Days is confident as training camp opens in just a few days.
But for he and the Buckeyes, they have to be confident. The expectations are simply too high to be anything else.
Lettermen Row will have more coverage all week from Big Ten Media Days in Indianapolis. Stick with Lettermen Row for full coverage of the Buckeyes on Wednesday.
