After leading Ohio State to the first-ever national championship in the College Football Playoff’s 12-team format last month, Ryan Day is currently the toast of the town of Columbus.
As has been well established by this point, however, that wasn’t always the case.
Prior to leading the Buckeyes to their ninth national title in program history, Day found himself in the crosshairs of Ohio State fans following a fourth consecutive loss to rival Michigan last November. And as Day’s wife, Nina Day, detailed to The Columbus Dispatch, the vitriol directed at her husband became so vile that some of it even included references to his father’s death via suicide when the now-head coach was only eight-years-old.
“They told me multiple times to have Ryan follow in his father’s footsteps and kill himself,” Nina Day told the Dispatch.
As Nina Day’s story made its way around social media, many drew attention to a post that had been made by one Ohio State podcast host in the wake of the Buckeyes’ loss to the Wolverines last November.
“Our head coach needs to take some advice from his father,” @B1G_Ryan wrote on X in a since-deleted post that was published on Nov. 30.
While the post largely flew under the radar throughout Ohio State’s run through the College Football Playoff, it reemerged following Nina Day’s comments to The Dispatch in the story that ran on Jan. 24. That led several Ohio State supporters and even former players to publicly criticize @B1G_Ryan, who operates the Meet at Midfield website and co-hosts the High Street Freaks podcast.
While the podcast host apologized for the post on multiple occasions, he also engaged in multiple arguments on social media, including one that seemingly resulted in former Ohio State linebacker Cie Grant’s X account getting suspended. Despite the social media backlash, @B1G_Ryan kept quiet regarding the post during the ensuing week, but reemerged on Tuesday to offer another apology while also announcing that he, his podcast and website had teamed up to make a $500 donation to Ryan and Nina Day’s charity, the Kids Mental Health Foundation.
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I discussed the situation and apologized more at length on our most recent episode of HSF: https://t.co/ZX6YHQ2X7I
— B1G_Ryan (@B1G_Ryan) February 4, 2025
“I want to apologize very sincerely for the Ryan Day tweet in November,” he said while addressing the post on the latest episode of his podcast. “I want to make it clear that I’m embarrassed and ashamed of what I said. It crossed several lines. It was beyond the pale. I’ve never said something like that. I am genuinely very sorry for having said it in the first place and even more so that it seems like people had sent that tweet to Ryan Day’s family.”
The host reiterated that he had never contacted Day or his family himself, but acknowledged the role that his post played in the vitriol the family had received.
“Players and coaches’ families should never be harassed or even really mentioned,” he said.
It goes without saying that the post in question was in poor taste and crossed the line of any sort of criticism that Day might have deserved for his performance as a coach. It’s one thing to call out a coach for not being able to beat his rival or consistently win big games; it’s another to invoke his father’s suicide, let alone suggest he should follow suit.
Ultimately, the podcast host and social media personality is now taking accountability for the post with not only an apology, but a sizable donation to Day’s foundation. And while his contrition surely won’t appease everyone, if the end result is $500 going toward a cause that the Day family is understandably passionate about, then at least something good is coming out of all of this.
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