Newmann: All in a Day’s work
“If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” — President Harry S. Truman
We saw a couple of titles bestowed last Monday, one in the morning and the other in the evening.
The morning ceremony featured the inauguration of the 47th president of the United States. The event, particularly noteworthy for its extensive list of to-do projects (together with wide-ranging criticisms) in the inauguration speech, had the restrained pomp and ceremony of a traditional state event.
The evening session featured two college football teams playing for the national championship. The event, particularly noteworthy in pitting two teams with storied histories against one another, had no restrained pomp or ceremony — and was played in front of an incredibly raucous crowd.
In the end, Ohio State outlasted Notre Dame, 34-23, and brought the title back to Buckeye Nation.
Support Local Journalism
But the back story of the game centered around the Ohio State coach, Ryan Day — and his strength of character.
Back on Nov. 30, Ohio State lost its final home game (and last game of its regular season) to its archrival Michigan, 13-10. The defeat knocked the Buckeyes out of contention for the Big Ten title game. But, more importantly for the team’s fans, the loss was the fourth in four years to Michigan. Buckeyes fans — and the national media — had a field day speculating on Day’s future — or lack thereof — at Ohio State. Never mind that the team’s record at that point was 10-2. The loss to Michigan was considered to be beyond egregious.
Even after the loss, Day had an overall career record of 66-10 in Columbus, a remarkable stat for any coach in the collegiate ranks. But the critics and the pundits went after him with a vengeance with many speculating that, even on the improbable chance that his team won a national championship, he’d be gone. Day received threats of physical harm and his family was harassed to the point of needing security at their home.
Throughout the whole ordeal, Day kept his composure. When asked after the loss if he thought he’d be back at Ohio State he replied, “Yes.” No whining, no blame games, no “poor me” syndrome.
The team had a closed-door, heated, no-holds-barred meeting with coaches and players after the loss. The theme: accountability. The upshot: they’d have to win the next four playoff games to take the title.
And they did.
The Buckeyes beat Tennessee, then knocked off top-seeded Oregon (after losing to the Ducks early in the season). They went on to beat Texas in the semifinals and then … they took the national title by defeating Notre Dame.
Day’s record is now 70-10, an .875 winning percentage that’s the second highest for a head coach with a 75-game minimum (only bested by, ironically, Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne’s .881 almost 100 years ago).
The coach never complained about the brutal criticism he faced after the Michigan loss. Nor did he mention his coaching prowess following the subsequent wins after that loss. He just kept an even keel.
“I think it’s the job of the head coach to take responsibility when something goes bad like (the Michigan game),” Day said after the championship game. “But then on days like this, make sure everyone understands it’s … the guys on the field that deserve all the credit, not the coach. The coach gets too much attention sometimes.”
Pretty self-effacing words from the leader of a championship team.
And, perhaps, advice that certain participants from that morning’s inauguration ceremony might want to ponder.
Tom Newmann splits his time between Edwards and Queenstown, New Zealand. He has been going winter-to-winter since 1986. He was also a journalist in Missoula, Montana, at the Missoulian for quite a few years. Email him at tsnnz12@gmail.com.
