Just as Jeremiah Smith latched on to the catch by Will Howard and sealed Ohio State’s win, the camera panned to an elated Ryan Day. Running happily and jumping in joy on the sidelines. This was a coach who faced a mountain of criticism after the loss to Michigan and even had to endure death threats, who was now getting redemption. After all, Ryan Day finally clinched that natty and ended the doubts people had about him. This was an incredible redemption story unfolding right in front of us; Day summarized the feeling quite well.
“The story gets to get told now, and it’s a great story about a bunch of guys who have just overcome some really tough situations, and it was a point where there’s a lot of people that counted us out, and we just kept swinging and kept fighting. It’s the reason why you get into coaching, is to see guys overcome things, learn life lessons, and then reach their dreams, this is what happened tonight“.
The story was undoubtedly a memorable one, something that will echo for generations. A win that ended almost a decade-long Natty drought for a program. Moreover, it was also a statement from the head coach that he was there to stay after facing ‘hot seat’ rumors beginning in the season. But did Ryan Day finally gain those ‘approval ratings’ he always wanted at Ohio State?
Clay Travis, a prominent college football insider with more than 1.3 million followers on X, said something that has forced Ryan Day’s wife to give a reply. “If you have a beard, and you dye your beard. You are not trustworthy. Because the whole purpose of having a beard is to embrace your rugged masculinity. I think this is why people didn’t trust Ryan Day. I think Ryan Day’s approval ratings would go up a billion percent. Congratulations on the national title. If you really want to be beloved, don’t dye your beard“.
Nina Day, Ryan Day’s wife, pushed back on the harsh verdict on Ryan Day and replied to Clay on X. “I have known Ryan my entire life and he has never once died his beard. Move on to the next narrative“. But this isn’t where things ended.
You can’t trust men who dye their beards. Huge red flag: pic.twitter.com/MiVP40GXIO
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) April 14, 2025
Christina and Ryan Day have certainly known each other since childhood, growing up in New Hampshire. The couple has also been happily married since 2005 and has three children: Ourania, Ryan Jr., and Grace. So, when Nina denied the speculation and criticism, she did have a point. Moreover, Ryan Day is someone who gained immense support after the championship title and is currently the second-highest-paid coach in college football, only after Kirby Smart at $12.5 million per year. Still, people disagreed with Nina Day’s reply quite vocally.
Fans continue Ryan Day’s ‘beard’ rumors
Ryan Day has just wrapped up the spring practices that culminated with the Scarlet and Gray spring ball game. However, the regular season still has a lot of time to roll in with more than 5 months remaining, and Ryan Day has to spend most of the time with his team in practices and strategizing. This is exactly what one user echoed and signaled: Nina might not have known the whole story about the ‘dyeing’ thing. “He’s literally not with you for 5 months out of the year “. While another user sarcastically echoed, “Seems like you’re very familiar with Ryan lol“.
About Ryan Day’s approval ratings. The head coach undoubtedly was on a hot seat when the 2024 season rolled in. But now is a different story. Day has garnered a lot of attention on social media, the internet, and the broadcasting media. So, his approval ratings are skyrocketing. But one of the fans seemed oblivious to the fact and replied to Nina, “Please it’s obvious stop lying!“. While another advocated believing what they see. “We can clearly see that he does though”. The user talked about Day’s act of dyeing his hair.
And about the approval rating? Well, Stewart Mandel and Bruce Feldman of ‘The Athletic’ recently put their list of college football coaches and their rankings in 2025. Ryan Day specifically took a big leap in the list as opposed to 2024. The head coach now sits in second position, only behind Kirby Smart, rising from the seventh and fifth positions in Mandel and Feldman’s previous lists. So, when the insider says that Day might not have the ‘approval ratings’ now, this list could be a sharp answer to that. Still, one other user disagreed with Nina’s post, which initially disagreed with Clay Travis’s ‘approval’ and beard ‘take’. “Does it feel bad that he lies to you? Also, spell check”
Ryan Day is currently undoubtedly one of the most high-profile coaches in college football. Still, some things analysts and fans point out to weaken his case, like the $20 million NIL tag. And this time, Day’s ‘beard’ has done the same thing. But, honestly, would OSU fans care if Ryan Day dyes his beard or not to evaluate the coach’s appeal?
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