Ryan Day Joins Josh Pate - Pate State Speaker Series

Añadido: 2026-05-13

[00:00:00]You and I were just sitting here talking. We figured we'd just press record, but there's all these things right now on the landscape. There's like A, what do you think about the playoff?

[00:00:08]B, what do you think about NIL in the portal? Uh, C, what do you think about the rules and recruiting and stuff? And we were just kind of talking like it's not just ABCDE, it's it's an alphabet type thing. If you talk about one, you got to talk about the other. So, let's just let's just dive into this. like your head holistically as the head coach at Ohio State on this stuff is where right now.

[00:00:30]I think it starts with the players. I think that's the first thing that I think about is where are our guys right now in all of this with all the change with all the things that are going on.

[00:00:40]How is it affecting our our players? Um and then from there it goes to the what's best for college football, not just now but moving forward. And I think when we start talking about these topics, like you said, you almost in a silo, but um I think that's one of the challenges we have right now in our game is that we're we're looking at it that way as opposed to how they all overlap and and interact with each other. I look at it, this is my favorite thing on the planet. College football is my favorite thing on the planet. I'm the most passionate about it. Like I I love talking about it. I love covering it.

[00:01:13]You get to coach it. you get to run uh one of the most highprofile visible organizations in the sport. So like there's a lot of joy that comes out of that, but then when you zoom in on it, there's a lot of stuff that doesn't make you happy to talk about. How do you find the balance of man, I get supreme enjoyment out of what I do, but also I don't love this, this, and this right now. I think the easy thing to do is just throw your hands up and just say, well, this is all ridiculous. But it still goes back to the people in the building. it goes back to the um you know the families of the coaches of the staff that we have in the building and then obviously it goes to the players and their families and um and so we can't just do that you know we have to figure out you know what it looks like on a day-to-day basis and then where are we going here at Ohio State what's the plan for us looking ahead 5 to 10 years because we sort of fall into the you know the trap of just thinking about how do we just get through this season and because of the world that we live man, you know, we all got to win right now.

[00:02:13]That's how it goes. But we have to make sure we're looking out ahead to figure out where are we going next.

[00:02:18]>> Do you ever find yourself I'm asking you this cuz I find myself doing this looking at the state of recruiting right now. There's a ton of money involved.

[00:02:28]There is a ton of visibility involved for an 18-year-old uh the likes of which we've never seen probably in American society, but especially in college football. And on one hand, like I've listened to you talk about this. You've never taken an anti-player making money stance, but you've very much taken a pro, hey, can we be a little bit smarter about this for when 10 years down the road football may not be their main source of revenue anymore? Like, yeah.

[00:02:55]Like I talked about this with Dabau last week. He's like, what are we doing to the 30-year-old version of the 18year-old that we're recruiting right now? But it's I'm asking you that to say it's kind of hard to talk about it without a skeptic listening and saying what what do you want to limit their freedoms? You want to limit their earnings potential? And it's never kind of been about that. It's kind of been let's just be smarter about it. I think college football's never been more exciting. And I think when you look at the amount of money that it's generating, um it's it's great to see coaches, players, um you know, getting their share of that. And I think we're all excited about that. You know, I think here at Ohio State, you know, what Julian Sain or Kenyatta Jackson or Jeremiah Smith means to this community, you know, it it it means a lot to a lot of people around here. And so to see them getting compensated for that is, you know, it's great to see. But but I think we have to we have to look at, okay, what does that mean? you know, when you watch these documentaries about um you know, mankind and how things have changed. Well, this is a major change. And you know, I saw something recently that you know, our young people process more information now than somebody would like in the 1700s in in a whole lifetime. So, what is that doing to our to our people? What is that doing to our young people?

[00:04:19]for our for this generation. You know, I've had a chance to see it because my son is kind of going through the process and he's at the same age as a lot of these guys is that with social media, with everything that's going on, these guys get more attention now they've ever had before. They and that and that's important in today's day and age when you're on Instagram or Twitter or Tik Tok. The the amount of followers, the amount of people that follow this game because of the excitement, because of how powerful the game is, it's a lot coming at them fast. And so when they, you know, post something, there's millions of people that are looking at that. That comes with a price. I think when you look at the amount of money that these guys are getting, which again is is exciting for everybody. It's our job as parents, it's our job as coaches, it's our job as as mentors to help them recognize what comes with that because we have wisdom. Wisdom is intelligence through experience. We've seen different things happen before, but there's a reason why you don't drive until you're 16 years old. I just took my my daughter out for a ride. She's 15 and a half.

[00:05:19]She's not ready to drive on a road.

[00:05:20]She's 15 and a half. There's a reason why you don't vote until you're 18.

[00:05:24]There's a reason why you don't you're not allowed to drink alcohol till you're 21 because our their brains aren't developed yet to be able to handle that.

[00:05:29]Yet, they're getting all this attention and all this money. Some of them are making more than their teachers. Some of them are making more than their coaches.

[00:05:36]And so when you think about someone's normal trajectory in a in a profession or a career, you know, it starts as an entry- level job and you build up into senior leadership and later on in your career, you're typically making the most amount of money that you would make.

[00:05:49]These guys now, some of them, they have to recognize and it's our job to help them as parents and coaches because it's exciting for them. They have an opportunity unlike anybody in the country. They are so much further ahead than any American. One, they're on scholarship. People forget about that.

[00:06:04]Most people graduate with debt. Then you add on top the NIL opportunities. If this money is invested right with the time value of money, they're going to be ahead of everybody.

[00:06:15]But the problem is not everybody's thinking about it that way. It's our job as coaches and as teachers and as adults to help them recognize that because football is going to be over at some point. And when football's over, they need to figure out the next part of their life. You know, I mentioned this to you before. You know, when I looked at Tom Brady's contract when he was working with Fox, he's making more money now per year than he ever did any one year getting money in, you know, playing quarterback in the NFL during his long career. Made a lot of money, but I think it's like whatever, you know, 37 some odd million dollars. You look at, you know, the best corner to ever play the game or, you know, we can argue that, but Deion Sanders, he's still coaching.

[00:06:51]Like, so when when football's over, when their career is over, like what's the plan for a lot of them? And so when the trajectory of most careers sort of go like this, some of these guys, you know, their trajectory is going to be they're making all this money now and it's going to come down like this. And and my concern is that when football's over, if they haven't made the right decisions, if they haven't invested the money the right way, if they haven't um, you know, been, you know, having a perspective, a healthy perspective on everything that's going on, that this is just a vehicle to help them set themselves up for the rest of their life. they're going to be down the road 40 years old working 45 hours a week for a job in a pay that they they think they're above and that's going to affect their relationships. It's going to affect their marriages and all those things.

[00:07:35]So, um you know, roundabout way to say like we have to really do a great job of recognizing that this is a wonderful opportunity for these people. This is a wonderful opportunity for them to set themselves up for the rest of their lives. We have to make sure it's our obligation to make sure that they do that. when you got the job here like there's the football piece and you find out am I equipped to be a head coach purely in terms of football but I would imagine even then that's not that long ago really in the grand scheme of things I would imagine even then you could have never known >> what the future held for the sport and therefore how many of these conversations or what portion of your time was going to be dedicated to these conversations. What kind of learning process has it been just for you being in this role and all of a sudden having to be a coach, having to be a a mentor, having to be a life skills guy, a financial uh decision maker, like all that kind of thing now. Well, I I think the first thing for me here is like during the whole transition and then we had COVID and then NIL the transfer portal, it it's just been um every year there's a just just a different challenge and they're going to be major challenges and I think when you're dealing in a in an industry that it's so competitive and there's so much at stake, you're going to constantly see these massive changes. Things aren't just going to stay the way they are status quo. um you know and I hope someday we get there with a little bit more structure that that a lot more structure but but as of right now we have to adapt. We have to figure out what's going to happen. Then we have to we have to recognize that the natural order of the world is chaos. The natural order of of college football is chaos and then embrace that and figure out um you know how to how to you know best adapt for us. But it just goes back to the guys. It goes back to the players.

[00:09:19]And it goes back to that part of it because um winning allows us an opportunity to continue to have an impact on people's lives and that's what a coach does. It just depends on what level you're at. But we have to make sure that we have guys in our program that understand the obligation of being a Buckey guy, what it means to so many people. And as long as we keep that culture intact and we make sure that everybody understands that when they walk in this building, it's not about them. It's not about how much NIL money they make. It's not about their career.

[00:09:44]It's about being a Buckeye here. Now, if you do things the right way, we have a great blueprint on how that could work out for you. But make no mistake about it, when that block block O is on your chest, you're doing this because of the people that have come before and the people that care about Ohio State. This time last year I was here, you guys coming off a national championship, you still had the string of games against Michigan that hadn't gone your way. Now, you've rectified that, not coming off a national championship. The last two games I saw you play, you lost both of those. So describe to me uh the difference in vibe last spring to this spring the way things went here.

[00:10:18]>> Well I remember when I first uh the first press conference you know I said I understand the expectations and embrace them. You got to win the rivalry game then you got to win every game after that and you know two years two years two different contrast. We didn't win that game won the national championship this year won that game didn't win the national championship. So it just is a great reminder got to win them all. It's how it goes. Um this off season, you know, there was um you know, a huge influx of freshman that came in at midyear. Um you know, we had some some transfer guys come in. So um you know, we had to replace, you know, Caleb, you know, Sunny was a reclass, but you know, he was in the class before. Um Arll, Kaden McDonald, Carell Tate, those guys were all three-year guys. So there was some holes in there that we had to address in the transfer portal, which I think we did a really good job of. But you can't just assume that all these guys understand the culture when they walk in the building. So, um, you know, this this offseason has been a huge emphasis on that, making sure these guys understand what comes with being a Buck guy.

[00:11:17]>> Yeah, I I ask this a lot and so I'll ask it of you, too. There is a major difference between a guy you recruited out of Cleveland for three years and intimately became familiar with versus a guy that you got out of the portal. Now, in a perfect world, the guy you got out of the portal you once recruited, it's not always the way it works. So, like when when you get those guys here, what are some of the early things you're looking for in spring ball to make sure he's acclimating the way I want him to?

[00:11:44]And also, what can you do before that in that speed dating sort of thing to make sure uh he he is for this place at a place where we openly say it's not for everyone?

[00:11:55]>> Yeah. I mean, that that has to be part of the the onboarding process and understand that when you walk into building, it's not like everywhere else.

[00:12:01]And part of that is knowing a little background on them. So when you look at um you know guys that have come in, you know, you take, you know, Quay and you take James and even Earl, all those guys played with with Caleb their freshman year. So Caleb had a little relationship there. You know, Terry Moore came in with Mareri uh when they were they worked at Duke together. Cortez Hankton worked with um Kyle Parker when he was at LSU. So um you know, and then we have a couple Ohio guys that came in. And so if there's a common thread there, then we know who they are and we knew know what we're getting when they get here.

[00:12:35]But once they get here, they have to earn the respect of the team. And that happens in one place. That happens in the weight room around here. I mean, you want to earn your stripes, then you grade out a champion. Uh you become an iron buckeye. And then that is how you get the respect of guys who are already in the program. It's the guys who are in the program that need to make sure that they understand what the culture that they help understand for the for the young guys and for the new guys in the building what the culture is, what the expectation is. And uh it's good to have some new guys who come in uh who give you a little perspective of of another program. So how do you compare? You know, what are some things in common that um that they do? What are some things that are different here? So that that's always good to to get, but they have to buy into it really early and and and but the number one thing is this can't be about you. Like listen, there's a long hallway of guys that we've developed that have gone on to be first rounders and all those things, but the number one goal here is to beat the team up north and to win a national championship. And like you have to understand that and embrace that. And if you do, guess what? You're probably going to be on that wall someday. When we get done with spring and I sit down with you as a player and I'm having like my postspring evaluation period, I'm I'm going to talk to strength coach. I'm going to talk to position coach, but like when I ultimately have the conversation with you, what does that consist of? Well, we talk about the the So, everybody meets with their position coach and they meet with Mick and they go through their positives, negatives, things they need to improve and those those types of things. And so, we kind of go through, you know, what are the things that you see that you've done well? What are the things you got to improve on? And then where do we see this thing going in the summer? What what needs to get done for you? And each guy has their own challenges. Each guys are in different points in their career.

[00:14:10]Some guys, man, like you better get going fast or you're going to be in that dang scout team again. And if you are, you have to embrace that role. But you're the one in control of that. And here are the things you got to get done in order to change that. If you don't like where you are in life, you got to you got to work hard to get that thing done. Or maybe I'm somebody that has come back for a, you know, a senior year that needs to really do some some, you know, hard work on how are they leading.

[00:14:33]You know, it can't just be about you uh when you're an older guy. And so, you know, I have to play at a certain level.

[00:14:39]And also, if you know, even in this room right here, I mean, the seniors sit in the front, the juniors, sophomores, freshman in the back. Every year, you're coming down into a different seat, into a different role. like the guy who just left that role was Will Howard, you know, this guy who just left that that was Caleb DS. So, you have to take on all that responsibility if you're moving into that seat. So, each guy has a different Some guys are just freshman.

[00:15:01]They're just trying to figure out where to go and what they're doing. Um, so each guy has their own story, but it's it's a it's a little bit of a connection point for me to talk a little bit about where they are, where they need to be.

[00:15:11]when you're covering a team or you're a fan of a team, you read practice reports out of spring. You may watch the spring game or whatever's on TV and you kind of like formulate an opinion of depth chard and here's what I think about this guy and it's pretty fixed. My mind's not going to change over the summer. I don't see those guys over the summer, but you do to a point and then you get them back in the fall and you know the conversations you've had with each individual player and you know which specific parts of their game you know need to improve. How common is it to get a guy back in the fall and really look at him and say, "Wow, like that's above and beyond even what I expected to get back in the fall."

[00:15:51]>> Well, that's that's what you're pushing for. That's the vision that you're trying to create when you come out of the spring. Um, and so much of it is what happens in the summer. Uh, but that's that's a really a transformational time. When you get into the season, it's hard to transform.

[00:16:05]You're sort of there. You can make a move, you can practice better, you can do those things, but when you're in the offseason, you focus on, you know, the weight room and getting stronger and learning the offense, learning the defense, and those types of things, you can really take big move, you know, big big steps. Um, and so that that's kind of we say this is kind of the last transformational time that you have. So, you got to really own that. Um, and then and then and then it becomes about confidence to me, you know, confidence to know what I'm doing and understand what I'm doing better and then physically have enough confidence. I've gotten this much faster. I've gotten this much stronger. Um, so all those things happen. So, how often does that happen? I mean, a decent amount. I I think, you know, our what we what we do in the weight room is important. I think probably what's more common is the relationships that happen during the summer. So when they come together in June and they come in together in July and they go through preseason camp, that's where the chemistry happens.

[00:16:56]That's where the glue happens. Um and so individually, sure, there's definitely growth, but there's there in the summer, there's a lot of growth that's made throughout the team.

[00:17:05]>> When a freshman comes in, most of the time they're early enrolles now, which means they've played their high school season. They've gone through uh winter conditioning, spring ball, like it's just been football non-stop for a year, plus they're head swimming because they're on campus at college for the first time. And there's some different theories out there. I wondered where you landed on the idea out there that freshman should at least be somewhere two years >> before all of the transfer portal stuff comes into play. Where do you land on that?

[00:17:33]>> Yeah, I feel pretty strong about that. I I do. And this goes back to, okay, here's one conversation that we're just going to have.

[00:17:39]>> This is where the alphabet. Yeah, but there's there's a lot of things that come into play and so we make these changes is what we do and and then we see the ripple effect in other areas. So there's a lot that needs to be in consider considered when it comes to this. But if you're looking at the the the player who comes in at mid year now there's a lot their season gets done like you said they jump right into spring ball. They have this season and during that freshman season typically they're not playing as much as they'd like. They're going through challenges.

[00:18:05]Um you know they're failing but that's part of being a freshman. You got to fail. you got to fail to learn. That's how that's how it works. And so there's all these expectations in recruiting and then when their freshman year doesn't go exactly the way they want, they get done in December and January and there's no cool cooling off phase right there. It's just it's emotional. It's raw. Um a lot of times the season is still going on.

[00:18:27]So to me, the ability to to say, "Okay, I'm I'm going to go somewhere for two years. I make a two-year commitment."

[00:18:33]Uh, obviously there are extenduating circumstances, a coaching change or something like that, but that allows them to, okay, I come in, I work in the spring, I go through my freshman year, I go through another spring, I go through my sophomore year, and now I'm in a different place than I would have been before. And you I think the mindset of saying, you know, I'm I'm somewhere for two years, like I'm not going to come up for a year and try to reassess this again. Plus, you know, I just think overall it's good for for their overall mental health knowing that I'm I'm I'm somewhere for two years. And, you know, I I know I have to push through adversity along the way and I got to grow. And, you know, for a lot of us that went through that where you had four years like you transferring wasn't an option. You had to figure it out. Uh that's a healthy thing. Last year, there were a lot of coaching changes mid year.

[00:19:18]A lot of guys lost their jobs and then coaching searches are going on. Seems like five different things were going on overlapping with the regular season.

[00:19:26]That was just one of them. And your offensive coordinator was involved in a coaching search. So I I watched Oregon go through this two ways. I watched&m go through this two ways. You guys go through it. What kind of impact did that have inside the building preparation down the stretch, that sort of thing?

[00:19:42]>> We always say nobody cares, so nobody does care. Um, but you know, the truth is that, you know, it it can be disruptive and and I thought Brian handled that great and it had nothing to do with him. It's just the way that it's set up right now, which goes back to this conversation that I think we all need to figure out. And that is like how is this all how does this all need to be structured, not these one-off conversations about um, you know, how many teams in the playoff, um, you know, when should the season end, you know, when does the portal open? like all of those need to come together as once and create this um this plan, this this structure, but we're just we're just picking and choosing right now and it makes it hard. You think about leading up to to that game, you know, on signing day, you know, Brian gets named the head coach of South Florida. There was just a lot that went that with that. Oh yeah, and by the way, we have, you know, short yardage and goal line that we're trying to game plan for. I mean, it was just um there was a lot going on. But at the end of the day, nobody cares. You got you got to produce. And so, um, you know, we have to make sure that, you know, we're always looking ahead and trying to figure out how to stay ahead of it. And, um, but, yeah, there's no question when you look at not just us, just, you know, the way things played out in a lot of different teams this year. Um, you know, there's no other sport that would go through something like this, right? I mean, you don't see it >> really in any sport. Um, >> I guess, you know, when you look at a lot of these teams once the season's over, you know, okay, now here here's where all the change can happen. this is working. We put the season to bed. We all agreed that we were going to be on this team for this run. Okay, once that's over, now it's time to go talk about the next year. That's not the way it's set up right now. You've got Arthur Smith and Matt Patricia here. So, a pair of former NFL head coaches as your coordinators, which is a pretty unique dynamic. I want to know when you are looking to fill a role, coordinator, wide receiver, coach, whatever. Uh what are some of the specific staff traits that have to be exhibited for a guy to get on the staff? And without naming names, like what are some instances where you thought you may be down the road on hiring a guy, but then red flag here, red X there, nope thanks but no thanks.

[00:21:48]>> Yeah, it's one of the things that people ask all the time. What have you learned year after year? And you got to make sure you make the right hires. Um and you got to be thorough with them. And I think for us, uh, we're very fortunate in the fact that we have two coordinators who, um, you know, former NFL head coach, former NFL head coach, and and that's important because we talk a lot about about our development here.

[00:22:09]And when you come into our our building, I mean, you're going to be coached like you're in the NFL. The expectations are the same way schematically, just your approach. And and these guys have that experience. And then you you add on top of that the staff. And um it's it's my job as a head coach to surround these guys with the best the best strength coach in America, you know, the best position coach in America, the best coordinators. You start going with the best nutritionist, you know, and if they're not the best, then we got to take a hard look at that and figure that out because that is the expectation. Um and just like, you know, for me, I I every year got to take a hard look at what do I need to do to make sure I'm the best in the country. And so I challenge our guys with that every day.

[00:22:44]But but that really is is the mindset that you know we want to get the best and um you know during the during the recruiting process of staff it's very similar to players is that you have to embrace what Ohio State is and what comes with this place. Um and you know it's been great to see someone like Matt Patricia come in and just really embrace the culture, embrace the fan base.

[00:23:07]You're seeing his personality come out.

[00:23:09]Um and and Arthur Smith is doing the same thing. you know, he's really worked hard on building relationships right from when he walked in a building u with the staff and then with the players, >> whether it's a player or a coach that could be an addition here in the past, >> what are some of the instances or examples where you realize or they realize or you mutually realize that place is not for me? What would that look like theoretically?

[00:23:35]Well, I mean, you just go through the process and there sometimes there's, you know, philosophical differences.

[00:23:42]Sometimes, um, you know, there, you know, part of it you have to you have to trust your gut on, you know, people can do a good job with interviews. They can, um, have a good resume, but, you know, you have to do a good job of following through with the people that, uh, have worked with them before, or maybe you have connections with them before. you've seen how they work. Um, you spend more time with these guys during the season than you do with your family. I mean, you're you're with them all the time. So, and you know, they have to be aligned with how we want to do things here. And during the process, like being very very clear about what the expectations are and what comes with it, um, you know, is part of the process. And, and like you said, there's just a lot of times where you go through that process. You're like, this isn't a fit. There's nothing wrong with that. There's other places where they can go on and have success. Yeah.

[00:24:34]>> Um, and it's the same thing with maybe somebody leaving, you know, like they come into the program and for whatever reason it's just not working and then there's another opportunity for them somewhere else. But we try to make sure that we align those things on a front end so we can have guys stay for a long time because I think stability is one of the things that separated us. Um, you know, families recruits come in, they want to go to a place where they know there's stability there with the position coaches and obviously with the head coach. You said a second ago, I expect the same thing out of myself. I'm asking myself when I come out of a season or I'm asking myself every day, like what parts of me do I need to improve?

[00:25:12]How do you quantify that? Like how do you decide? This is an area of Ryan D me a head coach at Ohio State or just the man I got to get better in.

[00:25:20]>> Yeah. Well, I think the first thing is are surrounding everybody with the best like when they walk in that door from when they to when they leave are do they have the best around them? That's the job of the head coach. you've got to surround them with the best. Um, and then making sure that the communication, the expectations are clear every day when somebody walks in a building and driving that culture every day. Um, and and to me that that's what it comes down to. Um, and and making sure that the communication is clear on the vision and giving everybody, you know, really clear uh directives and and then letting people go do their job and then hold them accountable. When you come out of a season and go into a season, like from the outsers's perspective, there's always a thing people are saying, they got to run the ball better. Uh they got to defend the pass. Like there just two or three sentences that roll off the tongue that describes a team. You don't obviously view your team that way, but is there like a specific thing or the thing or two that you've chosen to disproportionately drill on coming out of last year coming into this year?

[00:26:22]Yeah, I think it's a good question because there's so much that goes into it. Um, and you have to rebuild your foundation every season. It's not like you can just go and, you know, pick up from where you left off. There's a lot of pieces that we got to, you know, um, replace this year. And so, you know, that starts in the offseason. But, uh, to me, it's it's it's about the leadership and it's about everybody coming together as a group. Uh, I think that that's going to be the most important thing this year. when you look at our our schedule and and the teams that we play, I mean, these games are going to go down to the fourth quarter.

[00:26:53]And so, we got to be strong in the fourth quarter, we got to stick together. We're going to have adversity along the way. And if if and when that happens and and we work through the season, by the time you get to the playoffs, I mean, we will be playoff ready, but that schedule's going to be a bear. And so, we're going to need to make sure that we're strong together as a group.

[00:27:10]>> I know someday, you know, 100 years down the road, your career will be done.

[00:27:15]You'll be able to look back on it in totality. right now you're right in the middle of it. I have I have no idea how much longer you'll coach. Maybe you do, maybe you don't. But like you're in it right now. Do you ever view like your coaching progression in chapters? Like I'll I'll look at my career so to speak and I'll think, all right, uh once upon a time it was this and then for a little while I was there and now I feel like I'm kind of in this season. Here's how I would describe myself right now. Do you view yourself in that way at all? I I I don't know. I I think to me like every every year like like the focus is to win every game like and go as hard as you possibly can. So to start taking a step back and looking at all that to me um you know it's not something I've done.

[00:28:00]Um it's go go go go go and win every game. Start with the the opener. We got to go to Texas and like that's that's the focus and then putting this recruiting class together and making sure that we're set up. Now, I do think the conversations on where are we going in the next three to five years at Ohio State and everything like that are are part of these conversations. You can't just live yeartoear. So, I totally get that part of it. But, like that has to be the mindset because it's too competitive. There's too much at stake in every single game. And so, to me, like that that is it right there. And then at some point, you come up for air.

[00:28:32]But every year you learn. And I look at pictures of even where I was, you know, 3 to 5 years ago. I'm I'm much different than I was back then just because you learn your your some of your experiences and you know had some success, had some failures, but you got to you got to you got to learn from those. You got to grow from those and that hopefully that experience is going to now pay off because you've been through this before and communicating that to the players and the staff on what the expectations are and then holding to those those expectations. But um it all comes down to our identity, man, like who we are as a team and what we're going to grab on to. And so, um, you know, we we we talk about that a lot here and and I think we have the right people in place, but you know, every every year is its own journey and just because we've had success in the past, it means nothing.

[00:29:15]You know, winning is not just something that's pre-ordained around here. We got we got we got to grind for everything that we get. Um, and so I I think a big part of our our recruiting is is bringing in the same type of people that have the same mindset.

[00:29:28]when you walk into this place like you're coming I've said it before you're coming to be a first or second round draft pick not every we know not everybody's going to be that way but it's the mindset when you're a coach you're coming in here to to to win the rivalry game and win national championships that's the expectation so it's easy to say but take Arthur Smith for example or Matt Patricia like they've never won a national championship before like when you're in the when you're in the NFL winning 10 games is a great year and you win a couple you know games in the playoffs that's great well that's not good enough around here we got to win them all and So that mindset is something that is important that everybody has to understand and as the head coach I have to make sure that everybody in the building embraces that doesn't just say it. I remember last year we sat down after we were done you were talking about preparation methods and at the time you had just won a national title.

[00:30:14]So then the only negative left to focus on was the Michigan thing and I remember you saying to me look the preparation it's not that we don't take the thing serious enough. Of course, we're taking it serious, but we got to look at different ways to synchronize our preparation and the way we treat the leadup to that versus the way we treat every other game. We're playing at plenty high enough level in every other game. And so then you fast forward several months down the road, you play the game, you win the game, and afterwards, I've heard you talk a few times, but I'd like you to go a little more in depth on it on just subtle changes that you made to the leadup and the way you handled preparation for that game that still respected it for what it was as a rivalry, but also ensured that you played at the highest level you could. Well, again, it starts day one of recruiting when you walk in this building, what what number one goal is.

[00:31:02]And so, everybody understands that and that's clear from the jump. But what you have to do is you got to look at it and figure out like what what is going wrong here? I mean, what what is it?

[00:31:12]Especially the one two years ago, 20 point favorites and lose. It's like everything that could go wrong went wrong with with a really good team. And you just, you know, you just you got to bang your head against the wall trying to figure it out. And to me, one of the things that, you know, we would put so much into it from our off season to, you know, I can't even tell you what we would do. And and I think the game itself, you have Thanksgiving, you have, you know, for us on Sunday night, the band used to come in and do their deal. Uh we would we would get in the bus and drive up there. Why? Because that's what they've always done here.

[00:31:51]And I just said, "Well, we have to keep this more like a normal week and make it normal." And if we continue to build every week, then we'll be ready for that game at the end of the season because the guys know how important it is. You can hear it when when they talk. So, you know, we we did the band thing during the by-week. Um we we flew up instead of drove up, you know, we just tried to keep everything consistent the best we could and and I think it allowed the guys to focus on the game more and not as much about all the other things that come with it. Um because if we can master what we do on a week- toeek basis and be really really good at, you know, doing our job and preparing and practicing at a high high level and then performing on Saturday, that's ultimately what it comes down to. Um we know the emotions going to be there. We know what comes with that game. We know how much it means to everybody. But um sometimes when when you spend so much on it and it's been a couple years, three years, four years where it's not going well, there can be so much on it that you almost become paralyzed when things don't go well. And we didn't want that to happen. And I thought it was a good example of that is, you know, we threw the pick early in the game and then we came right back and just kept playing.

[00:32:54]Uh it it didn't it didn't affect us like maybe had in the past.

[00:32:58]>> I remember a couple of years ago, it still stands out to me vividly. I was here and everyone in this building, you included, talked about, all right, we've got an expanded playoff, which means we're going to have to potentially play more games. It could be the longest season anybody in this building has ever had to go through and we got to make sure we peak at the right time. got to make sure we're able to play our best football at the right time. And you did.

[00:33:21]Even even in the process of losing that game, you ultimately did. You won a national title. Then you come into this year. You just mentioned the schedule you got to play. What is the balance of trying to make sure we're structuring stuff where we peak at the right time?

[00:33:33]However, if we peak at the right time, but we've got three losses in route to it, we may not even get the chance to peek at the right time. How do you structure basically the preparation like the calendar, the the leadup to the season, the way you practice during the season? How much of that has to come into play?

[00:33:48]>> No, it's it's a great question. I mean, I think there there are probably some clubs in the NFL that, you know, they're, you know, they're getting started in September. Uh they find their identity in October and then and then they turn it on in November, December. U you can't do that in college football.

[00:34:02]It doesn't work that way. First off, these guys are young players. Uh they needed to continue to develop and they they got a lot of football ahead of them and you can't afford to lose games. Um now, now more than you could before, but still the margin of error is just like really really close. So that's the first thing. I think the second thing is though like how are you getting better week after week after week and that's the job of the coaches to figure out what are the things our guys do well. Um and and for them to understand that that it is a long season and that you know it's these series of sprints that we have to win each game as they focus on each game but knowing that each week we've got to improve. You know I use it like the iPhone. Um you know the iPhone what's your iPhone now? like the 15 or something.

[00:34:44]>> I got like a 19. I don't know.

[00:34:45]>> Right. 19.

[00:34:46]>> It's it's it's recent.

[00:34:47]>> The 11 doesn't even work anymore.

[00:34:49]>> Right. It doesn't work. That the the five certainly doesn't work. Like each week you've got to continue to upgrade.

[00:34:54]And when with that with your body, with your mind, with your soul, and and and that's part of it because what you put on film the week before, yeah, there's certain things you're going to do, but there's also things that, you know, teams are going to they're going to scheme up and that you have to be a step ahead. And so, u you know, over other are the days where you can just kind of run the same things over and over again.

[00:35:13]Now, that being said, what's your identity? Because you have to have an identity. And I think that's where um you know, the best coaches can allow their guys to play fast, play simple with their identity and and win the game in the fourth quarter. And I think that that to me is something that is going to really challenge us this year. We've been in games in the past where, you know, the third quarter and the fourth quarter have been three and four score games. It's not going to be the case this year. You know, we're going to have to win the game in the fourth quarter this season. And you know, part of that is running the football and stopping the run when it matters the most most in the fourth quarter, but then also it's going to be winning in a two-minute drill. And so, um, I think that's going to allow us to learn a lot about ourselves and then be ready to make that playoff run late in the season.

[00:35:55]>> I mean, everybody tries to quantify draft attrition, u guys, and what they did last year. And I mean, I don't know what the formula is for that. we can try as hard as we can, but then you've got the whole leadership aspect as well, which is really non-quantifiable. But yet, you know that you gota you got to backfill that or else you'll have a really talented team that doesn't have any leadership and it just it goes inexplicably nine and three or eight and four. Um, but there's no like microwave process to that either.

[00:36:27]>> And so as you go through spring and it's the wait room, it's on the field, it's it's in the meeting room, it's like all of that stuff. How do you start to see that manifest itself without you trying to like force it to happen?

[00:36:40]>> Well, it happens in the weight room for sure and and how we design our offseason and all that because we we force guys into the roles and guys got to have the courage to step up and speak up. I mean, just setting a standard is not leading.

[00:36:51]It's just doing your job really really well and setting an example. That's fine. But you're not taking anybody with you. You got to take people with you.

[00:36:57]How do you take people with you? By inspiring, by challenging, by demanding, you know, and each opportunity is different. If I'm in the field, we don't have time to have a conversation. I got to bark at you or, you know, we need to get this thing done. We need to get this thing done. You got to take control. But there's also times where you got to connect with these guys. You got to put your arm around them and you got to show them the way. And it all comes down to who you are in terms of your character, your connection with other people, and then the competency to do your job. And so, if we focus on those things, then we can get guys into leadership role. And um it's something that, you know, we spend an inordinate amount of time on.

[00:37:31]We have our leadership committee. We have a whole plan on how we try to implement this during the offseason and uh we're counting on that to to make a difference in the end.

[00:37:37]>> You and I are talking. I mean, we are fresh off of me looking at my phone and their headlines. Your son who's been going through the recruiting process, he commits. And I've also been places this spring where I'm talking to head coaches who had you in their buildings on visits and they interacted with you. But as a recruiting process, what what did you learn throughout that whole thing? like like what exposure did that give you to other places and other staffs that maybe otherwise you never would have seen?

[00:38:06]>> Well, I I think the first thing is I I owed it to my son to try to make it as normal as possible, even though that that's not really the case. Um, you know, it hasn't been normal for him from the jump, but uh he's obsessed and so I wanted to make sure that I did everything I could. I didn't want you know, my my position has affected a lot of things in his life. I wanted this to try to not affect this a ton. And I I give the coaches a lot of credit from the different places that I visited just um they have sons and I think that there's um you know they understand what that means and I think if it was their son they'd want the same thing and so we tried to do the best we could to uh to keep it as professional and I'm really excited for him. Um I think he found a great spot. I think they have a great staff there and it's it's exciting for him to go, you know, find that next journey. But going through the process has really opened up my eyes to a lot of things. And man, I can tell you like the number one thing is like you want to send him to a head coach that when he's making decisions, he's making that decision knowing that the number one thing is how would they want their son treated and you know that, but when you actually have a son going through it, it makes you remind you of that. Um, and that's it. And and so I think you said you asked the question about what is the number one thing you recognized.

[00:39:17]I I think there's a lot of weight rooms, there's a lot of stadiums, there's a lot of like cool facilities, but at the end of the day, it comes down to the people in the building. That's what it comes down to.

[00:39:29]And who's pouring into your son, who's going to drive them, who works at it, and then the culture that's in the building. Um it's the people. Something we always knew. Uh shoot Woody said it a long time you win with people but that's it. Um because you know there's nothing that you know again you know a cold tank or a dining room or anything like that can overcome when when you're sending your son or you're sending you know a recruit or a prospect to a place. It's going to come down to the people. Uh I'll get you out of here on this. So it's the time of year where people aren't going to see you a whole lot.

[00:40:02]They'll see you probably media days is the next time that most people will see you. So, you don't have a ton of free time, but relatively speaking, you've got more time that can be free this time of year than normal. What are some of the things you do? Like when you just totally check out, what are some of the things you do outside of football?

[00:40:18]>> Yeah.

[00:40:20]>> Um, I try to do a little bit of traveling different places. Um, I try to connect with the family and and and my wife and and um and and then, you know, spend time, you know, getting away from the game where it it just gives you a different perspective. So, getting around folks who um, you know, they might be a CEO of a company, not football, but just watching how they do things. Um, I think that helps a lot.

[00:40:46]You know, even when I'm at home, you know, you watch documentaries on history and different things. It gives you a perspective of how, you know, humankind has changed over time and we're in this world of change, you know, that that's happening at a rapid pace. And um, you know, we just kind of live in here where you get tunnel vision of just the Woody and the players and the coaches. It is good to step away a little bit and get around um, you know, your family. Make sure that you're investing in that obviously. Uh but then also, you know, just people who are also um high achievers who share some of the same things. You know, I'm not a huge golfer, but I had an opportunity to u play golf with some like really high-end people and just listen to how they go about building their staffs and some of their visions and some of their day-to-day practices. Um but it's even that that question you just asked me, I asked them, what are some things that are important to you? And uh I won't give names, but you know, one of them was like I I have white space on my calendar, which means like there's just an hour during the day where there's nothing on there >> and it allows me to be in my thoughts and think about what's best. Um and when I leave that, I I kind of take a step away and and I have a better perspective on the rest of the day. And just things like that in very very high, highly competitive uh intense jobs like this one is um so you can do your job better.

[00:42:06]Do you ever um like there's a there's a place in Nashville. It's out in the middle of nowhere. It's south of town.

[00:42:11]It's next to a a major rail line. I love just sitting there watching the trains go by, watching the deer. It's out in the middle of the wilderness >> and you can sit there in silence and think, do do you have Well, we live we're in the middle of a major city here, so it's a little bit different.

[00:42:25]But like when your mind just wanders, when you whites space it for a little while, >> where's your mind going? So, I I get in the car and just turn off the radio and put my phone aside and then just whatever whatever comes to your mind, whatever God's putting on your thoughts like and just it goes. And it's interesting when you're just kind of with your thoughts where it goes. We're always on our phones and I see young people on their phones all the time. I just want to say, "Put your phone down and just think for a second. Stop and think." Um, but I try to do that in a car as many times as I can.

[00:42:52]>> You saw that microplastics documentary right there.

[00:42:54]>> I like I like the different documentaries, man. There's there's a lot going on out there and um yeah, I I I watched the one on the dinosaurs. I watched the one on the the five families and the mafia which I was mentioning you before just recommendation. Well yeah how they adapted over time from pro prohibition to all the way to now and yeah there's all kinds of stuff going on out there but it is good sometimes to just you know turn your brain off and watch something for about an hour and then then go back and make a bunch of recruiting calls.

[00:43:21]>> Yeah, leave Euphoria alone. Don't even mess with season 3. It's not worth it.

[00:43:24]Just take it from me. Ryan Day, we appreciate it, man.

[00:43:26]>> You got it, brother.

[00:43:27]>> Thank you.

[00:43:27]>> Yeah.