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Cris Carter: Ryan Day should be fired if Ohio State football doesn't win national title
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- Cris Carter: Ryan Day should be fired if Ohio State football doesn't win national title
Ryan Day is facing increasingly pressing questions about his job security as the Ohio State football coach following the Buckeyes ' 13-10 loss to archrival Michigan in "The Game" last Saturday at Ohio Stadium.
Those calls for action against Day are now extending beyond the voices of the loudest fans on social media and message boards.
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Former Ohio State star and Pro Football Hall of Famer Cris Carter said Tuesday on "The Stephen A. Smith Show" that Day should be fired if the Buckeyes fail to win the national championship.
"If you look at the quarterbacks that he's had, if you look at the offensive productivity that he's had and the lack of mettle to win the big one (against Michigan ) but one time and no national championships, yes, your job will be in jeopardy at Ohio State," Carter said .
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Carter's analysis echoes many of the common critiques of Day over the past several years — namely, that he has had NFL talent at the offensive skill positions, but has yet to deliver a national championship and regularly loses to Michigan.
While past setbacks against the Wolverines could be attributed to a strong opponent, including a 30-24 loss in Ann Arbor last season against the eventual national champions, last Saturday's defeat came against a Michigan team that was just 6-5 and a three-touchdown underdog.
Though they're still virtually assured of a spot in the College Football Playoff, the Buckeyes finished the regular season with at least two losses for just the second time since 2018, despite entering the season No. 2 in the US LBM Coaches Poll and boasting one of the most talented rosters in the sport, one bolstered by high-profile additions from the transfer portal like safety Caleb Downs , quarterback Will Howard and running back Quinshon Judkins .
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Day is now 1-4 against Michigan since taking over as Ohio State's full-time coach prior to the 2019 season. He's the first Buckeyes coach to lose to the Wolverines in four consecutive years since John Cooper from 1988-1991.
"If you go 1-4 against Michigan, anything else that you do besides winning the national championship … my coach at Ohio State, Earle Bruce, went 9-3 a couple of seasons and they fired him," Carter said. "John Cooper, he had all the Heisman Trophy winners. He had all the big first-round draft picks, the Outland Trophy winners."
Day has gone 66-10 in his time at Ohio State, which included a three-game stint as the interim head coach in 2018 while Urban Meyer was suspended. Over that stretch, Day has led the Buckeyes to the Playoff three times, highlighted by a national championship game appearance at the end of the 2020 season. It's a strong record, but Day inherited a program on excellent footing that went 86-9 from 2012-18.
It's a point Carter turned back to during his interview with Smith, recalling a conversation he had with Meyer late in his tenure in Columbus. After Carter asked Meyer what kind of team he had for the upcoming season, the coach responded that he had a program that should win two of the next three or four national championships.
"And then Ryan Day took over," Carter said.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Cris Carter: Ohio State football must win title or fire coach Ryan Day
