COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ryan Day was named the Dodd Trophy Coach of the Week on Monday following Ohio State's road victory against Notre Dame this past weekend.
According to a release from the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation, the award honors a football coach who led his team to a significant victory while also embodying the award's three pillars of scholarship, leadership and integrity.
Day coached the Buckeyes to a 17-14 victory against the Fighting Irish Saturday night.
Ohio State was down by four with just seconds remaining when running back Chip Trayanum scored a 1-yard touchdown. Kyle McCord made several clutch throws during the game's final drive while running back TreVeyon Henderson rushed for over 100 yards and scored a touchdown.
“Coach Day had his team prepared to fight to the very last second and pull out a huge road victory against a top-10 opponent,” said Jim Terry, chairman of the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation. “Coach Dodd would have admired the Buckeyes resiliency, coming from behind late in the fourth and winning the game on a last-second touchdown.”
Day was fired up when it was over, criticizing former Irish coach Lou Holtz, who called out the Buckeyes toughness in predicting a Fighting Irish victory earlier this week.
“I’d like to know where Lou Holtz is right now,” Day said during a postgame interview with NBC. “What he said about our team, I cannot believe. This is a tough team right here. We’re proud to be from Ohio. It’s always been Ohio against the world, and it’ll continue to be Ohio against the world. But I’ll tell you what: I love those kids. We’ve got a tough team.”
Day became the head coach in 2018 and has guided Ohio State to a 49-6 overall record. He led Ohio State to back-to-back Big Ten championships in 2019 and 2020, and his Buckeyes are the only program in the nation to qualify for the College Football Playoffs three times since 2019.
In the classroom, Ohio State's student-athletes have reached new milestones under Day, earning a 993 academic progress rate during the last academic year, while also recording a graduation success rate of 86 in 2022.