For the second time since the turn of the century, an Ohio State coach in his second year leading the Buckeyes will coach Monday night in the national championship game.
Ryan Day follows in the footsteps of former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel, who led the Buckeyes to the national championship game for the 2002 season. In just his second year after taking over the program from John Cooper, Tressel led the Buckeyes to a 14-0 season, culminating in a 31-24 double overtime victory over Miami in the BCS National Championship Game has.
Tressel, now president of Youngstown State, will oversee Youngstown State’s first day of the spring semester on Monday night – when Day wants to follow in his footsteps through Ohio State to a national to lead championship battle. wins, with kick-off against Alabama scheduled at 8 p.m. at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
He told Elf Krygers On Monday, he was under the impression of Day to see from afar and see how Day Buckeyes led to the national championship game this year, despite all the adversity they had to overcome, including their season that was initially canceled and the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
‘I was very impressed with how he can focus and keep an even keel. He does a great job, even though I think he would never know if he was tense or stressed or whatever. And I think it’s like his team was. So I was very impressed with it, “said Tressel. ‘The things they were dealing with, I just admire how they kept steady. The kids were so committed to doing everything they had to do to make this thing happen, and now I think they are in a good place.
“Ryan, I think they have a lot of confidence in them, and for a young man I think he did a great job and that will be another big step.”
Although there was a tendency for coaches to win national championships during their second season at a school – Bob Stoops (2000, Oklahoma) and Urban Meyer (2006, Florida) were among those who achieved the feat – Tressel says he is ” not sure it really matters whether it’s in your second year or your eighth year. ”However, he believes that a common factor between the national title in Ohio State in 2002 and the Buckeyes’ run for the national championship this season is their pursuit is to succeed after disappointments in the past season.
‘I thought one of the advantages we had in ’02 was that all our older guys went through a lot. They had a 6-6 season and 8-4 and their coach got rid of, then our first year was 7-5, and there was a lot of disappointment. And they were so hungry. The same goes for Ryan, ‘Tressel said. ‘He got there after Clemson beat the kids 31-0, and the following year they did not come in, and they were disappointed with that. Last year they thought they could win the game, they were probably the better team. It gives you disappointment. Then you have this COVID thing, maybe you are not playing. These kids had so much disappointment, I think it just so happens that it’s in his second year. ‘
While Day repeatedly talked about everything his team had to overcome this season and how the Buckeyes had a chance to write ‘one of the greatest stories in the history of college football’ on Monday night, he hesitated to talk about the importance of coaching . for the first time in a national championship match choose to save the reflections for after the match is over.
‘All that really matters is to prepare for this match. “I think if you take a step back, you get distracted,” Day said. “I look forward to getting this thing done in the right way and then taking a deep breath and decompressing and trying to reflect on what just happened this year.”
Tressel thinks the day that preparations are focused on will be the key to Ohio State’s success on Monday night, because he knows from experience that you need to take confidence in your preparation to win at the highest level of college football.
‘I felt very good about how we prepared when we played Miami, and when we honestly played LSU. We did not win in the end (the 38-24 loss to LSU in 2007), but I felt very good, ”said Tressel. ‘I felt terrible about preparing our guys (the 41-14 defeat for Florida in 2006), and that was how it broke. Sometimes, when they are not listening, they are not listening. But I think he got their attention, I think he feels good about their preparation, and I think it gives you a chance to be calm. ”
Jim Tressel knows what it’s like to be a second-year Ohio State coach in the national championship game, and he’s going to see Ryan Day on Monday night to lead the Buckeyes to a title. (Photo: Jason J. Molyet / News Journal via Imagn Content Services, LLC)
Tressel said his advice to Day tonight would be: “do not flinch” and “be who you are.”
“The game will be for a while as you hoped, and then it will swing the other way, and then it will swing back,” Tressel said. “But he knows it. Every heavyweight fight, if you’re going to knock it out, I do not think it’s going to happen. ”
That said, Tressel is optimistic that Ohio State will win Monday night.
“I feel good, I really feel,” Tressel said of the Ohio chance to beat Alabama. ‘It’s easy for me not to worry, I do not have to coach, but I do not think we are unmatched. This is not a mismatch. And who knows, Alabama might think so. And if they think we’re like the other teams they played, I think they’ll be shocked. This is what I hope. ”
Even though it’s almost ten years since his tenure with the Buckeyes ended, he still feels a loyalty to the state of Ohio and will win the Crimson Tide.
‘It’s a lot of fun, because the older you get, the more you reflect on what part of something you played, and I felt like we were constantly improving and building and building in our ten years. “Urban came in and built and built, and now Ryan has taken it,” Tressel said. “If you look at this century, the state of Ohio has been pretty good. And it feels good to be a part of it. ”