Ohio State Coach Ryan Day: RB Miyan Williams Is "Ready To Go"
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ATLANTA - Georgia Bulldogs and coach Kirby Smart are getting ready to take on Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes in the 2022 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in the College Football Playoffs. Here is everything Ohio State’s Ryan Day said at Media Day on Friday.
Q: The term physicality gets brought up a lot when Big Ten and SEC teams play each other. What does that term mean to you, and what does it mean to the success and the winning of this football game?
RYAN DAY: I agree with everything Kirby said. That's the way the game is played. It's football, and you have to play physical. When you're playing in the CFP, certainly it's going to be the most physical game you've played all season. The SEC and the Big Ten coming together, like you said, for years, two of the most physical conferences there are out there. So it's everybody on the field. It's like you got the perimeter game out there. You've got special teams. You have the game in the trenches. You have to win your one-on-one battles. That's what this game is all about. It's about running around hitting people. That's to be expected in a game like this.
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Q. Kind of related to that, you used the term violent a couple times yesterday, which struck me. I get the sense that your team takes that personally, the idea that you feel like you've got to prove that physicality, that violence. Can you just kind of address that?
RYAN DAY: Again, playing in the CFP, you're going to be playing football at the highest level, and this is going to be an unbelievable environment and electric atmosphere and playing in Mercedes Benz. Again, playing in the CFP, it's going to be that type of atmosphere. Our guys know that and understand that, and that's what you're going to get in a game like this. So our guys have been practicing that way and preparing that way so that we can play our best football. But we know that that's the type of game it's going to be.
Q. Ryan, I know that you don't necessarily consume a lot of Ohio State media, but did you make an exception for Paris' story, and what did you think of it?
RYAN DAY: Paris Johnson is just a tremendous young man. I did read his letter. I think that's why we get into coaching. I think in today's day and age, there's a lot of things that happen. There's a lot that goes into it, but to spend time recruiting Paris during that, like he said in his letter, Urban started recruiting him. Then I came in and kind of took it over. Paris and his mom went on that whole journey to go see a lot of different schools, but ended up back at Ohio State. Then to see his growth and what he's done on the field, off the field and has impacted Ohio State has been tremendous. That's the reason you get into coaching is to have an impact on young people, and winning just allows you the opportunity to do that more and more. Proud of him. I thought it was well-written.
Q: These two programs have a lot of history, and they are often in the same circles, recruit the same caliber of players annually in the top five, but haven't matched up in awhile. What does it mean to both of you to finally be able to step in between the lines and have these programs face off against each other?
RYAN DAY: And I have so much respect for what Kirby's done and what he's built. Winning the National Championship last year and certainly his team has played unbelievably this season. When you look at the beginning of the year, you say to yourself where are we going to see ourselves in December, and this is the exact situation we saw ourselves in. We knew that Georgia would be right here, and they do an unbelievable job of recruiting and coaching and playing. So here we are.
Q: Coach Day, what concerns you the most with the Georgia defense?
RYAN DAY: Any time you get to this level of football, you're going to be playing against complete teams. Georgia's defense is complete. They have really good players in the back end, very, very talented, highly recruited, and been developed at a high level with tremendous scheme. Then when you go into the front, athletic linebacker who can run sideline to sideline and their front is powerful. So you see the statistics. You see the way they played all year. So they're a complete defense. When you get to this level of the CFP, that's what you're going to get, and that's the biggest challenge. So we have to execute at a high level.
Q: Could you talk about the standards and expectations of your respective programs and how you've adjusted to the pressure that's involved with that task?
RYAN DAY: Yeah, same thing. The expectations at Ohio State and Georgia are the highest level, and we embrace that. Our players embrace that. That's why you come to Ohio State is to be in situations like this and play in games like this and go compete for a National Championship. We talk about that in recruiting. We identify those who look to achieve that and want to be elite. Then like Kirby said, in your team, you build that culture of passing down a legacy to the younger guys so that that continues, and that's been going on here for a long time at Ohio State.
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Q. Ryan, we saw Miyan back at practice yesterday. He wasn't feeling well earlier in the week. How does he look? How is he feeling the day before the game?
RYAN DAY: Yeah, back to practice yesterday, so he'll be ready to go.
Q. Ryan, I know you're focused on your game, but there's two Big Ten teams playing in semifinals. That idea, what have you seen from the Big Ten in your time as a head coach in terms of the overall level of play, and what do you think it means for the Big Ten to have both Ohio State and Michigan in semifinals this year?
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RYAN DAY: I think it's very important for the conference to have two teams in the CFP, and I think the level of play in the Big Ten has improved over my time as the head coach. Week in and week out, you have to bring it, and the challenge is that you play nine conference games in the Big Ten. There's very good coaches, very good players. They're a very physical conference. So you have to be able to sustain throughout November because of the nine conference games, and for some teams, they play a nonconference. That's really ten conference games that you play. With the physicality of the conference, I think, it's deserving to have two teams in the CFP.
Q. You guys are obviously strangers on the field, but you bump heads all the time on the recruiting trail. C.J. Stroud, most notably, Damon Wilson as of late. What have you learned about your opponent on the trail, and what's something that you admire or have taken from them?
RYAN DAY: I would just say I think Kirby and his staff do a great job of working at it. I think, when you have such great players in the state of Georgia, the easy thing to do would be just to assume you're going to get those guys. They don't do that. They work really hard at it. They grind at it. No stone's unturned. So when you're recruiting against Georgia, you've got to bring it, and they do a great job of that.
Q. For many high school students playing football at a college level is a dream opportunity. What advice would you give to upcoming recruits looking to be recruited by a big program?
RYAN DAY: Agreed. I think in the recruiting process, sometimes we call it Disneyland recruiting, like everything's going to be great when you go to school. The truth is there's twists and turns along the way, and everybody has their own journey. A big part of going through the process of college is working through adversity in tough times. So I think a big part of going through the process is choosing the school that's going to develop you at a high level in all areas of your life. Certainly there's the football part of it, and that's a big part of the experience, but there's a lot more to it than that. In today's day and age, there's a lot of new changes and things going on, but to focus on the things that matter, I think is critical.
Q. You guys have had to deal with injuries throughout the season, next man up mentality. How does that change when you're at this point playing in the College Football Playoff when you need guys to step in for those guys who may be out for these games?
RYAN DAY: I don't think it changes. When you're into this part of the season, you certainly have a month to get some guys healed up, but that's college football. You can't pick up somebody on waivers. You've got to develop young players and bring them along. This time has been great because bowl practice is very similar to spring practice where you can get young players a lot of reps and a lot of good-on-good work. So you continually use this time, the spring practice, the preseason, to build your depth so that, when you need to fill a guy or fill a spot, you can do that. This time of year, there's always those opportunities for players to do that, so it doesn't change.
Q: What does the eve of the semifinal game look for both teams? Besides the walk throughs, what are you doing together to get ready for the game?
RYAN DAY: We'll keep our routine the same. We tried to keep this week like a game week and less like a bowl week. Like you said, we have our walk throughs. We have our meetings. We have our night together on Friday. We call it best Fridays in football. It will be a long day, getting ready for this game and 8:00 kickoff. So we try to do the best we can at keeping the routine the same, and that's meetings, walkthrough over at the stadium, and we come together for dinner, movies, watch some football, and then get to bed.
Q: Coach Day, if you could answer. In the NIL transfer portal area, about this model, the disadvantages that you have preparing for a game while maybe other teams are working the portal or recruiting more aggressively, do you think this is a sustainable model, what you're dealing with now with the transfer window as well as the NIL dealings that are taking place for both coaches?
RYAN DAY: Agree with everything Kirby said. The best recruiting is winning. So I think that's one of the best things about being in this situation is you get all the exposure for recruits and their families to see you come to Georgia, you come to Ohio State to go play in the CFP. Well, here we are. I think, when you make decisions on changing things or moving things, the ripple effects don't get recognized for at least a couple years down the road. So early signing day, portal, NIL, all these types of things, you don't see them shake out for a couple years down the road. So I always caution about changing again and keep continually making all these changes because it just disrupts how things are being done. So, as we move forward, we have to make sure we're really smart about the decisions that are made and the changes that we make.
Q: Then you have multiple weeks to prepare a game plan in a situation like this, what are the similarities and differences to when you're preparing a game plan in a week's time during the season in terms of getting with your staff and building what you want to do on game day?
RYAN DAY: For the bowl structure that we use, we spend the first part of the bowl month working on fundamentals and just good-on-good and really don't dive into the game plan until we start to get a little bit closer towards the game and then try to treat it like a game week. You obviously have more time to look at your opponent and get organized and look at the things that they do, but then you can also get to the point where you can overdo it. It gets similar to the first game of the season, but at the end of the day, it's going to come down to fundamentals and who's going to play hard, who's going to execute at the highest level. We try not to start the game planning too early because then you start to get too much involved with the scouts, and you don't get good-on-good work because it will come down to fundamentals.
Q. If you had beaten Michigan, you knew you would be in the playoff. The fact that you had to go through those days of uncertainty and misery and all that stuff, how much do you think that will help you in this game that you had that scare and maybe more gratefulness that you're here?
RYAN DAY: I think at the time, it certainly gave us an injection of energy, excitement for sure, coming off of that weekend and into that week. The next week it was a range of emotions. It allowed us an opportunity to have great energy and great focus and edge during the month of preparation for sure. So we'll see. We'll see tomorrow night. We'll see where we're at. I'm really pleased with the way we've practiced, how our guys have gone at it. We've had really physical practices. When you have something taken away from you, it does give you a little bit more appreciation for what it is. We'll see how we play, but it has been a great month.
Q. Ryan, for you, in the days and the weeks since the last game of the season, you and some of your players have referred to the amount of pressure that you felt in that final game and the way it may have affected the performance in that game. I'm wondering the message you've had to your players to avoid the word pressure and to try to get them to play loose and to their most natural athletic ability in the biggest game they'll play.
RYAN DAY: I just think you go back to your training. You can't focus on things like that. What it comes down to is just playing hard in practice and then going back on your training once you get out there and playing physical with your teammates. There's going to be good plays. There's going to be bad plays, but just going out there and looking up at the scoreboard at the end of the game. That's what we're going to do in the game. We're going to play as hard as we possibly can. There will be ups. There will be downs and twists and turns in this game, but play as hard as we can. You can't worry about things like that in a game like this.
Q. Coach Day, how is practicing at Mercedes Benz Stadium this week allowed you and your team to get accustomed to the venue?
RYAN DAY: It's a great stadium. It's a great venue, beautiful stadium. Being there for the week is -- what you try to do is you try to make it your own. You say, okay, this is the Woody right here. This is where we come out, and we run out of the Woody every day. You try to make it a game week. You try to make it a home as much as possible. You're practicing indoors for the whole month and then you go there, just throwing and catching, the punts, things like that, the contrast against the ceiling. So it takes a couple days. But other than that, it will be a lot different with a packed house tomorrow night.
Q. Ryan, you talked about ending the season the way you did, getting to now. Anything that you learned about this team through that process or any individuals that sort of reveal themselves as being different or having a new leadership quality that helped you push to this point?
RYAN DAY: I think you know who the leaders are and you know who the guys are that we turn to, and I think those guys have done a great job. They've had a voice. I won't point one or two guys out because we've got a great group of guys. Again, at this point, there's not much more to talk about. We've had a great month. The guys have done a really great job. So now it's time to go play the game.