Ryan Day Comments on Parker Fleming, Ohio State Buckeyes Special Teams

Day called Fleming "a great teacher and a great coach" amidst scrutiny from Ohio State Buckeyes fans on the recent performance of the special teams unit.

The No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes defeated the Rutgers Scarlet Knights 35-16 on Saturday, but the game was not without its low points.

One such valley in the game was a seemingly fake punt from Buckeyes punter Jesse Mirco on 4th-and-5, which resulted in just two yards and a turnover on downs.

Ohio State fans were quick to post their thoughts on social media criticizing the play call and special teams coordinator Parker Fleming. Here are what some users had to say on X (formerly known as "Twitter").

"What dirt does Parker Fleming have on Ryan Day," user 'kevin harrish' said.

"Someone in the media seriously needs to ask Ryan Day why Parker Fleming still has a job, and why he was given a raise in the off-season," 'Mr. Ohio' asked.

On Tuesday, 'Mr. Ohio' got an answer to his question. During his weekly press conference on Wednesday, Day responded to that aforementioned inquiry about Fleming (though not in those exact words).

"I think he's a great teacher and a great coach, and I can just tell you that he works as hard as anybody in the building," Day said. "But we're all being evaluated every single time we're out there. And it's everybody that's involved in special teams; it's not just the coordinator...But clearly, everybody who's in charge of special teams...can all do a better job. And so, we'll just keep pushing to make it better. But we know what the expectation is."

Day, Fleming and Ohio State will have a chance to "make it better" when they host the Michigan State Spartans on Saturday, November 11 at 7:30 p.m. on NBC.