During his storied coaching career, Nick Saban rarely shied away from an opportunity to share his thoughts on college football-centric hot topics.
Saban and the rest of ESPN’s “College GameDay” crew were in Indiana ahead of the 12-team College Football Playoff opener between Notre Dame and the Hoosiers. While the high-stakes game was the main topic during the pregame show, embattled Ohio State coach Ryan Day was also discussed.
Saban came to Day’s defense and directed his ire at Buckeyes fans, suggesting they shoulder at least some of the blame for the cloud of negativity circling the program.
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Nick Saban sits on the ESPN “College GameDay” set before a game between the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Ohio State Buckeyes at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pa., Nov. 2, 2024. (Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
Saban said the noise surrounding the program is a distraction to the coaches and players and also made it clear he respects Day and his program.
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“I think every coach has gotta define how he wants to do it, and I have a lot of respect for Ryan Day and how he’s tried to do it,” Saban said. “For me, I always wanted to get every player in the organization to reach their full potential. It wasn’t so much about the outcome, it was what you had to do to make everybody better.
Head coach Ryan Day of the Ohio State Buckeyes and head coach Nick Saban of the Alabama Crimson Tide before the College Football Playoff national championship game at Hard Rock Stadium Jan. 11, 2021, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
“But a big part of that was insulating the players from external factors — criticism, internet. I used to tell the players all the time, ‘Why do you care about what some guy puts on the internet who’s a fat guy in his underwear living in his mother’s basement? Why do you care? Why does that mean anything to you? Why does that affect you in any way, shape or form? We should be focused on what we control and what we can do.’
“It’s the same thing for the fans. I would tell the fans the same thing. If Ohio State wants to beat Michigan, they need to be positive about their coach and their players. There’s nobody that wants to beat them worse than the players and the coaches. That’s No. 1. No. 2, they have an opportunity to win the national championship. Everybody ought to be supporting the hell out of them so that they have the best opportunity to do it and quit all this negative bulls—.”
Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day before a game against the Akron Zips at Ohio Stadium. (Joseph Maiorana/USA Today Sports)
While Day has compiled a 66-10 record at Ohio State, his Buckeyes have lost four straight to the Michigan Wolverines.
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Day’s underwhelming results against Michigan have drawn criticism and raised concerns about the coach’s job security. Day’s focus is on the Buckeyes’ upcoming game against Tennessee in the College Football Playoff. The Buckeyes host the Volunteers Saturday.
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