Ohio State's Ryan Day Holds The Highest Winning Percentage Among Active Head Coaches

Ohio State Buckeyes' head coach Ryan Day leads the country in winning percentage among active head coaches. Now he has an opportunity to reach some other major milestones in 2024.

Nov 25, 2023; Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day leads his team in warm-ups prior to the NCAA football game against the Michigan Wolverines at Michigan Stadium. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA

Ever since taking over the head coach position at Ohio State in 2019, Ryan Day has led the Buckeyes to a lot of wins. In five seasons, he holds a record of 56-8 and is 39-3 in Big Ten Conference games. In 2019 and 2020, the Buckeyes won back-to-back Big Ten Championships and claimed a Sugar Bowl victory in 2020 and a Rose Bowl win in 2021.

Despite all the wins and success, Ohio State fans have been getting antsy following three-straight losses to Michigan and no Big Ten Championships the past few seasons. This Buckeyes program has had the talent to compete for a National Championship as well but have not been able to get there aside from one time. That resulted in a blowout loss to Alabama in January of 2021.

According to Pro Football Focus, Ryan Day actually has the highest winning percentage among all active head coaches in college football. That 87.5 percent winning percentage places him at No. 1, just ahead of Georgia's Kirby Smart and Tulane's Jon Sumrall.

Leaders in Winning Percentage Among Active Head Coaches👀 pic.twitter.com/dbdo1Vplty

— PFF College (@PFF_College) July 22, 2024

Day is not the only Big Ten head coach to make this list, but the next highest Big Ten coach in the rankings may be a surprise. New Indiana Hoosiers' head coach Curt Cignetti finds himself at No. 4 with an 82.6 percent winning percentage. Cignetti was most recently named the 2023 Sun Belt Coach of the Year following an impressive 11-1 season with James Madison in his fifth season as their head coach. He led them to a record of 52-9 during that time and was 19-4 in their first two seasons in the FBS in 2022 and 2023. He will now look to turn around a struggling Hoosiers program.

Oregon's Dan Lanning and USC's Lincoln Riley were the other two Big Ten coaches on this list of elite company. Lanning sits one spot behind Cignetti at No. 5 with an 81.5 percent winning percentage. Riley is tied at No. 6 with new Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer at an 80.4 percent winning percentage.

Although Ryan Day does headline a rather impressive list, he will most certainly be looking to do more in the near future. To his credit, the Buckeyes have not been caught off guard and upset by teams like Purdue or Iowa during his reign. They just need to be tougher in "the big games".

With the current roster and experience returning in 2024, Day's group has a serious shot to avenge prior losses to Michigan, win a Big Ten Championship and make a run at the National Championship in the inaugural season of the 12-team playoff. Not only do things look promising in 2024, but Day and his staff have had incredible recruiting success with the 2025 class. This year is a chance to assert dominance and that is what all of Buckeye nation wants.