Michigan vs Ohio State rolled in like usual in Columbus, Ohio, last year. The Buckeyes were waiting for a win after facing three consecutive losses. Wolverines, on the other hand, were coming to make a statement and record a 4th straight win. ‘The Game’ ended 13-10, with Michigan edging Ohio State after their piercing and devastating onslaught of the rushing game. Ohio State’s air raid offense couldn’t quite seal a win that day, and the game should have ended as usual, with both teams going home quietly. However, something else entirely happened after the game.

The sea of white and red comprising both teams’ players started throwing punches and kicks at each other like a scene taken right out of ‘Fight Club.’ Temperatures soared, and the university police had to intervene amidst all the chaos. The incident started when a Wolverines player tried to plant their flag in the middle of OSU’s field. Naturally, this was a gesture of disrespect, as OSU players weren’t able to bear it after a narrow defeat. The fight signified a broader trend in the CFB world, where acts of celebration and criticism cross all boundaries, and eventually, the line between them both starts to blur. Ryan Day similarly had to endure the worst of it after the game.

“It was some of the hardest stuff I’ve ever had to deal with in my life; dealing with really grown men coming after me for something I didn’t have a part of ….” This was Ryan Day’s son RJ describing the worst phase of trolling, death threats and abuse he had to endure after criticisms directed at Ryan Day crossed all boundaries. The trolling and death threats endured by Day’s family weren’t just normal criticism; it was outright acts of criminality. So much so that Ryan Day had to hire a security firm with armed guards to protect his home. In a recent interview on ‘97.1 The Fan’ Day opened up about the whole phase.

“As a dad and as a husband, you’re like: All right, I got to get this thing fixed fast.  Because they didn’t do anything, they have no control over it, and I think that’s probably the hardest thing as a man, is just to see your wife and your kids, who have zero, literally no control over any of it, have to deal with it. So you have one choice, you better pick yourself up off the ground and get it figured out fast, and that’s what we did, but yeah, I think that’s probably the biggest challenge.”

Surely, wading through the difficult phase would have been nothing short of a challenge for Ryan Day. A coach who had the onus to turn around OSU’s fortunes after the Michigan loss by going through endless trolling and death threats. Day turned around miraculously later in the playoff as his team steamrolled some of the most difficult opponents. Those were Oregon, which was coming after an undefeated regular season, and the Longhorns, which also didn’t face any losses except against UGA in the regular season. Lastly, the OSU head coach defeated a resilient Notre Dame team and lifted the elusive natty trophy. Sure, all’s well if the end’s well, right?

Ryan Day showed incredible resilience in the face of the ensuing threats

The incident around Ryan Day and his family demands deeper introspection for the current fanbase, who cross all the lines just because their team lost. The NCAA needs greater regulation to tighten the screw around some nasty bad apples, along with community outreach and awareness regarding the consequences of the acts, and only then will the problem resolve. However, Ryan Day offers a wholly different, resilient take on the issue.

“There’s a lot of people, they’re going to say a lot of things, and you know, people want to say extreme things that’s how they get attention, that’s how they get credibility nowadays, and it’s a great learning lesson for a lot of people that when things get really really hard; you just got to hang in there and you just got to stick together with the people you care about the most.”

Ryan Day certainly stuck together closely with his family, as Nina Day, Ryan Day’s wife, described. “He felt responsible and just felt bad that he had put us in this position. He promised us he’d get us out of it.” That speaks volumes about Ryan Day’s resilience in the difficult phase. However, now that Day has won a national championship and has gotten himself the most expensive contract in the college football world at $12.5 million per year. That may come as a bit of consolation and inspiration for the head coach to be resilient and provide us with even more moments of glory and success.