Ryan Day: "Our Players Want to Know, Why Can't They Play?"

Ohio State second-year head coach jumps in after Penn State's James Franklin commented this morning.

After Penn State head football coach James Franklin made comments Thursday morning regarding his disappointment with the Big Ten Conference, and its handling of recent events, Ohio State taskmaster Ryan Day added similar thoughts of his own.

“While I understand the Big Ten Conference’s decision to postpone the football season because of the health and safety considerations, the communication of information from the Big Ten following the decision has been disappointing and often unclear. However, we still have an opportunity to give our young men what they have worked so hard for: a chance to safely compete for a national championship this fall…

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— Ryan Day (@ryandaytime) September 10, 2020

“I couldn’t possibly be prouder of how this team, our medical personnel, athletic director and president have stayed together and managed through this extremely difficult time with so many unanswered questions. The Big Ten medical subcommittee has done an excellent job of creative a safe pathway toward returning to play in mid-October…

“These young men and their parents have asked so many questions that I do not have the answer to, but the one that hurts the most is ‘why can these other teams and players play and we can’t?’ Duke is playing Notre Dame, and Clemson is playing Wake Forest this weekend…

“Our players want to know: why can’t they play?”

The statement from Day comes after nearly a month of silence (or no public comments) regarding the ongoing saga with a Big Ten football season. Day is looking to enter his second year as head coach of the program after leading Ohio State to a 13-1 record last year and appearance in the College Football Playoff.

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