'I Like This Team A Lot!' Ryan Day Excited For The Upcoming Buckeyes Season

Coach Ryan Day and his squad are coming off a disappointing season, another campaign without a national championship appearance.

As the spring disappears into our collective rearview mirrors to make way for summer, college football programs are focusing on the fall and the upcoming 2023 season. The Ohio State Buckeyes are no exception.

Coach Ryan Day and his squad are coming off a terribly disappointing season, another campaign without a national championship appearance. Ohio State now stands at 1-3 in the College Football Playoff tournament under Day.

And the 44-year-old ball coach is aware of that record and how close they came last season on New Year's Eve.

“I think coming off the way the season ended, yeah there was a chip on our shoulder,” Day told On3.

“I’m really excited about the leadership here. The guys that have come back. Xavier Johnson could have gone to the NFL. He decided to come back, Tommy [Eichenberg], Cade Stover … there’s a veteran group here that’s driving this, but also the third-year players that are in the program, they played a lot as freshmen, and that was a great class. So there’s a lot more experience on this team than any team that I can remember in the past.”

This team has lost a few pieces to graduation and the NFL. Most notably, quarterback C.J. Stroud, who was selected No. 2 overall by the Houston Texans in April's NFL Draft. But he's also gained some talent this offseason.

“I like this team a lot,” Day said. “The feedback we’ve gotten from [strength and conditioning coach Mickey Marotti] on a daily basis is exciting. We’ve gotta go put it on the field. But this is a good group.”

But can that talent translate to success on the field? Even with significant losses from the year prior? Day doesn't want to hear excuses.

“The expectations, the standards never change,” Day said. “We’ve never wavered from that yet. We’ve been in the CFP three of the last four years. We were just a couple plays from really winning it all and having the opportunity to play in the national championship game.”

Day would like to see that 1-3 playoff record improve to 3-3 after the upcoming season. That would mean a championship for Day and his Buckeyes.

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