2026 Big Ten Media Days Interview: Ohio State Head Coach Ryan Day

Summary

Cover 3 College Football Podcast

2026 Big Ten Media Days Interview: Ohio State Head Coach Ryan Day

Date: August 1, 2026
Host: CBS Sports (Chip Patterson, Tom Fornelli, Danny Kanell, Bud Elliott)
Guest: Ryan Day, Head Coach, Ohio State Buckeyes

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Episode Overview

This episode features an in-depth interview with Ohio State head coach Ryan Day at the 2026 Big Ten Media Days. The discussion centers on Ohio State’s preparations for the upcoming season, including roster strengths and challenges, the maturation of starting quarterback Julian Sayin, working with new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, the evolving landscape of the Big Ten, and some lighter, personal moments designed to give fans insight into Day’s philosophy and personality.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Team Known Quantities and Unknowns for 2026

Timestamp: 00:43 – 03:27

• Offensive Line Strength:

  • Ryan Day praises the returning offensive line: “Probably the most experience we've had there in a long time.” Names standouts like Carson, Luke, and Austin Saravel, highlighting their playoff runs and leadership (01:09).

• Defensive Reconstruction:

  • Outlines challenge of replacing leadership after losing key players (Caleb, Kaden McDonald, Arvell Reese, and Sonny). Emphasizes the need to use the transfer portal:
    • “You lose that leadership of having some older bodies there. So we had to go portal and replace some of that experience. Not ideal, quite honestly…” (01:36)
  • Details specific additions and their backgrounds (James Smith, Quay Russo, Terry Moore, John Walker).
  • Highlights upcoming game against Texas as an early test for these new contributors.
  • Singles out Kenyatta Jackson’s offseason growth and leadership.

• Defensive Backfield Concerns:

  • Expresses curiosity about chemistry and communication in the new secondary, mentioning Jalen McClain, Earl, and Devin Sanchez.

Quote:
“How all that comes together is probably the biggest unknown. But excited to see. It's not like it's a negative… [The defense] had a good offseason, and Matt's excited about what we got.” — Ryan Day (03:21)

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2. Julian Sayin’s Development and Expectations

Timestamp: 03:27 – 05:18

• Rare Stability at Quarterback:

  • Notes it’s only the third time in his tenure having a returning starter (previous: Justin Fields 2020, CJ Stroud 2022).
  • Recaps Sayin’s successful first-year campaign: Heisman finalist, road win at Texas, victory in snowy rivalry game.
  • Focus on Sayin’s mental and physical transformation:
    • “I don't know what somebody looks like before they go to war, when they come back from war… They've seen a lot of different things. And I think that's what it is for Julian… He's found his voice even more within the team.” (04:19)

• Areas for Growth:

  • Sayin wants to be more efficient, improve pocket presence, add mobility.

• High Praise:

  • “He’s brilliant... One of his special traits.”

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3. Blending Philosophies with Arthur Smith (OC)

Timestamp: 05:18 – 06:35

• New Perspective in the Staff Room:
  • Smith brings “a different perspective…that’s been great.”
  • Cites his prior NFL experience, lack of ego, and openness to mesh both his and Day’s concepts.
  • Praises Smith’s staff management, intelligence, and adaptability.

Quote:
“He wants to do the things that we've done that's made us successful… but he also wants to bring it to the next level. ... They all really enjoy working with him. He spends time, he listens, but he's also really intelligent.” — Ryan Day (05:47)

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4. Quick Hit: The ‘Wheel of Logos’ - Coach’s Instant Reactions

Timestamp: 06:43 – 08:28

• Purdue:
  • “They were national champs last year, so you got to give them credit… Barry is as good a coach as there is in the country…Purdue is heading the right direction.” (07:05)
• Wisconsin:
  • “Camp Randall. Yeah, Randall, man, to jump around. And you know, Luke [Fickell] obviously is a Buckeye, and he's a great coach as well. So much respect for him…” (07:37)
• The Rival (Michigan):
  • “The rival. We need an X on that.” (08:01)
• Sailgating (Navy):
  • “What is it called? Sailgating…what a great environment… pull in and see all the sailboats and everybody tailgating in the water. What a unique experience.” (08:16)
  • “Yeah, it got loud. I mean, it just kind of reverberates down.” (08:28)

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5. The “Question Train”: Coaching Against Your Own Son

Timestamp: 08:32 – 09:47

• Prompt from Dan Lanning:
  • If coaching against his son, how would Day approach it?
• Day’s Strategy:
  • “I would have to disguise some things on him…show blitz one way, get him to check it, and then bring it the other way.” (09:06)
• Family Dynamic:
  • Shares that his wife would root for their son at Northwestern, showing the family’s humor and love:
    • “She goes, he's blood. He's not.” (09:47)

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6. Passing the Question: For Michigan Head Coach Kyle Whittingham

Timestamp: 09:54 – 11:00

• Day’s Question:
  • “What is the biggest difference, you would say, coming into the Big Ten as opposed to where you were last year?...Just the magnitude of the conference...what’s the biggest change that you see or the biggest difference you see?” (11:00)

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Memorable Quotes

• “It's exciting for us because this is really only the third time we've had an incumbent coming back to play quarterback for us.” — Ryan Day (03:43)
• “I don't know what somebody looks like before they go to war, when they come back from war, but it's the truth. They got a different look in their eye. They've seen a lot of different things. And I think that's what it is for Julian.” — Ryan Day (04:13)
• “Camp Randall's a great place.” — Ryan Day (07:57)
• “If you play him and blitz him, I'm gonna kick your ass.” (about his wife’s reaction to blitzing their son) — Ryan Day (09:25)

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Notable Segments and Timestamps

• Team strengths and questions: 00:43 – 03:27
• Quarterback development (Julian Sayin): 03:27 – 05:18
• Working with Arthur Smith: 05:18 – 06:35
• Wheel of Logos (Coach Day’s reactions): 06:43 – 08:28
• ‘Question train’: Coaching your son: 08:32 – 09:47
• Day’s question for Kyle Whittingham: 09:54 – 11:00

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Episode Tone and Style

The conversation is direct, candid, and occasionally humorous, providing both expert analysis and personal anecdotes. Day is willing to be transparent about both the challenges (especially on defense) and the excitement he feels for the season, reflecting a coach with measured confidence and a collaborative mindset.

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Summary Takeaways

This episode offers a revealing peek at Ohio State’s outlook heading into 2026, from building on last year’s quarterback success to managing roster transitions and integrating new coaching voices. Ryan Day emerges as adaptive, forward-thinking, and deeply committed to sustaining the Buckeyes’ national prominence, even as he navigates the evolving terrain of the Big Ten.

Transcript

[Ryan Day]

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[Podcast Host 1]

Go easy.

[Podcast Host 2]

Sold my car on Carvana. Amazing offer really.

[Ryan Day]

I hit 200 on a scratcher.

[Podcast Host 2]

Did the scratcher come to your house and hand you a check?

[Sponsor/Advertiser Voice]

No.

[Podcast Host 2]

How many scratchers did you hit to get that? I hit a button on Carvana.com once.

[Ryan Day]

Okay, that's fair.

[Podcast Host 2]

It's like the lottery, except you always win.

[Ryan Day]

Not like the lottery at all, actually.

[Podcast Host 2]

Exactly. Inexplicably good offers worth bragging about. Sell your car today on Carvana. Pick up fees may apply.

[Podcast Host 1]

We are very, very excited to have Ryan Day joining us once again. Coach.

[Podcast Host 3]

Hey, coach.

[Podcast Host 4]

What's going on?

[Podcast Host 1]

Doing great. It's good to see you. We are live.

[Ryan Day]

How we doing?

[Podcast Host 3]

Good.

[Ryan Day]

Good to see you too,

[Podcast Host 1]

coach. As we start to look ahead to the 2026 season, every single coach in this conference and across the country has their their knowns and their unknowns. You've got a quarterback back, you've got some, some stellar skill position players. You lost some really, really good players on both sides of the ball. In terms of the NFL draft picks that are gone. As you prepare to open up fall camp, what are some of the unknowns that you're excited to be able to go and figure out?

[Ryan Day]

I think the other known is your offensive line which is probably the most experience we've had there in a long time. You start with Carson in the middle and you have Luke and Austin Saravel and then, and then the list goes on from there. But, but those three guys, you know, started during the whole, the whole stretch of the playoffs and won the national championship two years ago and they're back for fourth and fifth year so that's big as well. And their leadership, so that's big. I think in terms of unknowns, it's probably when you lose guys like Caleb, when you lose guys like Kaden McDonald, Arvell Reese and even Sonny. Sonny is a reclass but he was really a three year guy. I know he played a little bit his freshman year but when you recruit classes you lose that leadership of having some older bodies there. So we had to go portal and replace some of that experience. Not ideal, quite honestly, but we worked hard to do some research to figure out who the right fit would be in those areas. And Caleb actually gave us a lot of feedback on James Smith. Yeah. Quay Russo and enroll little who was there. I know he's in Florida State, but he was at Alabama's freshman year with Caleb. You know Terry Moore who came in was at Duke with Macareri. So, you know, we got a lot of feedback. John Walker was somebody that we recruited. We were really excited about him at Central Florida. But to see how those guys, you know, produce early in the season, obviously we have this big early game against Texas to see how that works. And then, and then for me, Kenyatta Jackson is somebody that's had a really good off season. This is a big year for him and he's done a really good job in the off season with his leadership. But how all that comes together is probably the biggest unknown. But excited to see. It's not like it's a negative, it's just. And then Christian Allegro. Christian Allegro. We were playing against Wisconsin this year and halfway through the game he like shattered his hand, went in, got a big club and played the rest of the game on it. And I was like, whoa, this guy's a tough dude. So you know he's a Buckeye. And then Peyton Pierce, how he comes in and even the back end, like missing Caleb, like, what's that going to look like? Jalen McClain was here with us today. Like, you know how he and Earl and those guys communicate in the back end and how Devin Sanchez steps up. So I would probably say most of those things are on defense. But. But they had a good season, a good off season, and Matt's excited about what we got.

[Podcast Host 3]

One of the knowns that we haven't discussed yet is your quarterback Julian Saane coming back, who had a phenomenal season for a first time starter his first year in a lot of big pressure spots and a lot of big games. What's the one thing though, over the off season you were stressing to him after the way last season ended that you wanted him to work on to get better for in 2026?

[Ryan Day]

I think it's exciting for us because this is really only the third time we've had an incumbent coming back to play quarterback for us. You know, we had Justin and 2020, went to the national championship and then we had CJ in 22 and came up short in that Peach Bowl. But this is important for us because so many guys have gone like we did with Will Howard, the older guy. But this guy's been in our program now. So when you look at last year, he did a lot of great things for us. I mean, he's a Heisen Trophy finalist. He won that big game at Texas early. This was his first start ever. Welcome to college football. And then he wins the rivalry game in the snow, which I think was his first snow game ever. It was Snowing sideways. But then when you look at the way our season ended, it wasn't the way we wanted. And so just. I said this before, it's probably an exaggeration, but it's true. Like, I don't know what somebody looks like before they go to war, when they come back from war, but it's the truth. They got a different look in their eye. They've seen a lot of different things. And I think that's what it is for Julian. If you look at his body, when you look at his lower half, you know you're going to look. He looks different right now, but he's also got that different look in his eye. I think he's found his voice even more within the team. And he's really. He's really enjoying working with Arthur Smith. One thing about Julian is he can handle a lot of information, so he's been enjoying that challenge of it. He's brilliant. He really. I mean, that's one of his special traits. So all those things, you know, put together, it was kind of where he's at. I think, you know, he wants to be more efficient. He obviously wants to, you know, have a bigger, bigger pocket presence. He wants to make some plays with his feet and all that, but he just needs to continue to build off of what he did last year.

[Podcast Host 4]

You mentioned Arthur Smith coming in. You've been through multiple coordinators, Chip and Brian, and you're the constant because you're a great offensive mind in your own right. What is that like, as juicy Julian, like almost teaching Arthur some of the stuff that you've like to done, like in that kind of imagining how you're kind of talking to Arthur about what you want to do and blending some of his concepts. What's that. What's that relationship like?

[Ryan Day]

Well, it's been nine years, and to your point, we've sort of done the same thing and we're going to continue to do that. But having Arthur was a different perspective, which has been nice because even the things that we did, you know, I was with Chip for two years in the NFL, so there was just a lot of similarities there. We saw things the same way. The way that we game planned was the same way. Arthur brings a different perspective to the table for us, and that's been great. Tyler Bowen brought in a little bit of a different perspective when he came in from Virginia Tech the year before. But this has been great. And having somebody who's not only had the success he's had in the NFL, but also been an NFL Head coach, just management of the staff, game planning, play calling, all those things. But he doesn't have an ego. If you guys know Arthur, he wants to do the things that we've done that's made us successful as well. I mean, but. But he also wants to bring it to the next level. And so our guys, the feedback, you know, I asked, what do you think about Coach Smith? What do you think about Coach Smith? And to a man, they all really enjoy working with him. He spends time, he listens, but he's also really intelligent.

[Podcast Host 1]

On the COVID 3 podcast, we love to break down the game. We react, you know, every single Saturday. We also like to have a little bit of fun. Will you engage with a little bit of fun with us?

[Ryan Day]

Sure. It depends on what the fun is, I'm sure.

[Podcast Host 1]

But yes, we've got a wheel.

[Ryan Day]

Just don't ask me what my favorite candy.

[Podcast Host 4]

Scratch that one.

[Podcast Host 3]

Quick.

[Podcast Host 1]

There are no wrong answers here. Okay? We are going to have a wheel of logos. And when the wheel stops, want the first thing that comes to mind.

[Ryan Day]

Okay.

[Podcast Host 1]

Okay. And control room is controlling this right now. So when it stops.

[Ryan Day]

Well, they were national champs last year, so you got to give them credit, man. They had great champs. They had a great season. You got to give them credit. Respect. I think Barry is as good a coach as there is in the country. I had a chance to spend time with him when, you know, my son went through the recruiting process. He's a very, very good coach and a really good man. And what he did at UNLV and I think, you know, Purdue is heading the right direction.

[Podcast Host 1]

That's a good hire.

[Ryan Day]

Really good. H, man, Camp Randall. Yeah, Randall, man, to jump around. And, you know, Luke obviously is a Buckeye, and he's a great coach as well. So much. So much respect for him. But. But, yeah, camp wasn't exactly.

[Podcast Host 3]

They weren't jumping around too much when you were last year.

[Ryan Day]

Coach, Camp Randall's a great place.

[Podcast Host 1]

All right, Coach, we got two more for you.

[Ryan Day]

The rival. We need an X on that.

[Podcast Host 1]

Yeah, cross out the X. All right, last one.

[Ryan Day]

I think of. What is it called? Sailgating.

[Podcast Host 1]

Sailgating. Yeah.

[Ryan Day]

It's a good call. I mean, what a great environment there. And then to pull in and see all the sailboats and everybody tailgating in the water. What a unique experience.

[Podcast Host 4]

Loud.

[Ryan Day]

Yeah, it got loud. I mean, it just kind of reverberates down.

[Podcast Host 3]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host 1]

Something about the way the roof traps everything. It's crazy. The other bit of fun and frivolity is that we've done A question train, which means that a coach gets to ask a question to the next coach, who then has to answer that and then ask a question to the next coach. Okay, that's a good one. Your question came from Dan Lanning, who said, if you were coaching your own son, how would you attack that?

[Podcast Host 3]

If you're coaching against your son's at Northwestern, if you're coaching against your own

[Podcast Host 1]

son down the line, how do you approach.

[Ryan Day]

That's a good question. Well, I. I would. I would have to disguise some things on him because he is. He's very good in terms of recognizing things. So we're gonna have to show blitz one way, get him to check it, and then bring it the other way.

[Podcast Host 3]

That's awesome.

[Podcast Host 4]

He said you had to be careful, too. Your wife might be upset with the answer, like, 1,000%.

[Ryan Day]

She literally said. She's like, if you play him and blitz him, I'm gonna kick your ass. But no, the funny part about that one was, you know, somebody says, you know, so down the line, you know, he's a starting quarterback for Northwestern, and, you know, they play Ohio State, like, what are you going to do? And she, like, looked at him like they were crazy. She's like, I'm going to be wearing Northwestern. So she goes. She goes, he's blood. He's not.

[Podcast Host 1]

Good answer. And then your question will be for your rival. What is your question for Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham?

[Ryan Day]

Oh, boy.

[Podcast Host 3]

Could be anything you want.

[Ryan Day]

You had to pick them.

[Podcast Host 4]

Yeah, we.

[Podcast Host 3]

It's just the order it went.

[Podcast Host 4]

We're trying to go viral, Coach. I mean, give us something.

[Podcast Host 3]

Good question. Could be, how dare you?

[Ryan Day]

Yeah, I don't know what I'd have to ask him right now.

[Podcast Host 1]

It doesn't have to be football, right?

[Ryan Day]

No, I know. I was just trying to figure out what I could ask him that won't end up on the COVID of USA Today. Let's see. I'd probably ask him, although he doesn't really know yet, but it would just be like, you know, what is the biggest difference, you would say, coming into the Big Ten as opposed to, you know, where you were last year? You know, like, you know, when you look at our schedules, when you look at, you know, just the magnitude of the conference, like, what is the biggest change that you see or the biggest difference you see? If there's one or two things, I'd just be interested from his point of view, what that would be because he's been coaching at Utah for so long, and now he's in a completely, you know, kind of completely different part of the country. Like what, what's the biggest difference you see in making this change?

[Podcast Host 3]

We will.

[Podcast Host 1]

We'll get his answer and we'll find you down the line. We'll let you know what he said.

[Ryan Day]

Sounds good.

[Podcast Host 1]

He he is Ohio State coach Ryan Day. Thank you so much for spending some time with us here on the COVID 3 podcast.

[Ryan Day]

No problem, you got it.

[Podcast Host 1]

Coming up on the other side, we are going to be joined by star wide receiver Jeremiah Smith and more next.

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