Nick Saban “ruined” college football for coaches like Ohio State’s Ryan Day according to Late Kick’s Josh Pate; who believes the “Bama Standard” should not be seen as the bar for other good, but not the all-time greatest, coaches across the country.
“I think Nick Saban ruined this game for a lot of you,” Pate said on the October 15 edition of “Late Kick.” “Because a lot of you watched what Saban did at Alabama and that became your standard. You think that’s supposed to be real? That’s supposed to be obtainable? What Saban did at Alabama is not supposed to happen.”
Pate sarcastically asked hypothetical questions from an Ohio State fan’s point of view to illustrate how unfair the rhetoric is surrounding Day’s Buckeyes tenure. He hammered home his defense of Day to follow that up.
“‘What are you still on Ryan Day for? How close they are, what are you talking about? We’re Ohio State, we don’t just want to be close, want to win it,’” Pate said.
“Well I never said you just wanted to be close,” Pate responded, breaking character. “You misunderstood what I’m saying. I’m all in on Ryan Day because of how close they’ve been for a while.”
Pate listed Ohio State at No. 1 in his power rankings poll for the week since they’d be favored by one score against Oregon on a neutral field. If the Buckeyes could win prove-it games against Nebraska, Penn State, Indiana, and Michigan, and don’t fall prey to the massive upset bug spreading around college football, they can be No. 1 in the AP Top 25 Poll sometime in the future.
Easier said than done, though.
Ohio State benefitting from 12-team College Football Playoff field
It’s possible that the narrative would be that Ohio State would need to win out to make the College Football Playoff in a four-team format. With 12 teams making it in 2024/2025, though, the Buckeyes still have hope.
And that’s badly needed in Columbus, where the NIL payouts to Ohio State’s roster have surpassed 20 million collectively.
The Buckeyes are too expensive to not make a run. Whether Pate likes it or not, Day’s job may be on the line if a bigger-name coach can uphold Ohio State’s top 2025 recruiting class.
