Ohio State coach Ryan Day couldn’t help but poke fun at himself while on a media blitz following the Buckeyes' 34-23 win against Notre Dame last Monday.
In doing so, a now-viral video surfaced following the game that saw Day, quarterback Will Howard and linebacker Cody Simon’s celebratory evening turn into a near-disaster as the golf cart came to a meeting with an unintended wall.
Day rehashed the now-infamous story on “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon” during a light-hearted discussion between the two.
“You’re stressed during the game, you finally take a deep breath, and so we get on the golf cart to go to the press conference, and we are just gunning it through the field,” Day shared. “Just dodging around people. And I’m grabbing on like this, and then we took the corner, and it hit the wall. And if you look back, Will Howard’s laughing his tail off, and so is Cody Simon, and I’m looking like, ‘You’ve gotta be kidding me right now.’ It’s just amazing how you come right back down to Earth like 20 minutes after [the game].”
Day, Howard and Simon all safely made the press conference, as did the national championship trophy that sat beside Day during the discussion with Fallon. Fallon failed to pick up the 50-pound trophy in all its glory in a try-not-to-laugh effort.
Day will continue to embrace the victory for now, earning his first national title since arriving in Columbus five years ago. His biggest hurdle next fall, outside of a potential repeat, will be attempting to take down Michigan, whom he has not defeated in four years.
With Michigan’s latest sign-stealing update, spearheaded by ex-Michigan analyst Connor Stalions, the bad blood surrounding the rivalry known as “The Game” is the furthest from boiling over as the countdown to November rolls on.
For now, Day can reign supreme as the sport’s best coach until his next challenger awaits.