'Time to start packing': Paul Finebaum rips Ryan Day after 4th loss to Michigan

Finebaum says Day needs a deep run in the College Football Playoff in order to save his job in Columbus...

Matt Lounsberry | 14 Hours Ago

Kyle Robertson/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Michigan Wolverines

This was supposed to be the year Ryan Day got the monkey off his back. This was the year Ohio State was supposed to end it's recent losing streak to Michigan.

Instead, the Wolverines pulled off the biggest upset in the history of the series, and Day is getting dragged on national television, local radio and publications and by his fanbase. The latest to jump on the pile is none other than ESPN's Paul Finebaum.

Making an appearance on his colleague, Matt Barrie's podcast, Finebaum slammed Day for his inability to beat Michigan for the fourth consecutive year.

"This is the biggest game of the year in college football, and they still can't figure out a way to win it," Finebaum said. "This is a whole another special show on planting the flag, but Ryan Day comes up with this idiotic statement about, ‘we’re not going to let them do that to our field,’ try to beat them first Ryan! You won’t have to worry about that."

Finebaum also made an appearance on ESPN's Get Up on Tuesday morning with fellow colleague Heather Dinich, both of whom discussed what they believed Day must achieve in the upcoming College Football Playoff in order to keep his job in Columbus.

"He has to make it a deep run, I would say," Dinich said. "Win the national title? No, I don't think that's fair. But, get to the national championship game? I think that's a significant conversation, because consider this: If the selection committee agrees with me on 'Selection Day' and Ohio State has a first round home game, can you imagine if they got knocked out early and ended their season with two home losses? One to Michigan? I mean, we're talking about his job being in jeopardy, 100 percent, if that were the case."

Day received a vote of confidence from Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork just one day after Michigan upset the Buckeyes, but Finebaum isn't putting much stock in Bjork's statement of support for his head football coach.

"First of all, I don't believe any athletic director's statement of support," Finebaum said. "That same athletic director, Ross Bjork, he was at Texas A&M two years ago. He was with Jimbo Fisher until he fired him and gave him a $76 million payoff. So, that's just complete balderdash.

“The bottom line is, he has to make a serious run. First-round knockout, I’d fire him on the field before he gets to midfield. I still think he probably ought to go. This guy has been a very good coach, he’s 66-10. But when you lose to your rival every single year, four straight, we’re talking about three revenge games, and the result happens especially this year, it’s time to start packing."

.@CFBHeather and @finebaum both think Ryan Day needs a deep playoff run to keep his job 😳 pic.twitter.com/oPtvTnb3gQ
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) December 3, 2024

Ohio State was ranked No. 2 by the College Football Playoff committee prior to the 13-10 loss to Michigan. Day and the Buckeyes will learn how far that defeat drops them in the new rankings tonight (Tuesday, Dec. 3) when they are revealed at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.

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