Ohio State head coach Ryan Day was named on Monday as one of 21 coaches on the preseason watch list for the Dodd Trophy, awarded annually to the college football head coach who “enjoys success on the gridiron, while also stressing the importance of scholarship, leadership and integrity.”
Day, 45, has never won the Dodd Trophy — named after former Georgia Tech head coach and College Football Hall of Famer Bobby Dodd (1945-66) — in his first five seasons leading the Buckeyes, but this marks the fifth-straight season he has been featured on the watch list. He was named to the midseason Dodd Trophy watch list for the fourth time in his coaching career (2020, 2021, 2022 being the others) last October after leading Ohio State to a perfect 7-0 record, but the honor was ultimately given to Florida State’s Mike Norvell.
Day is one of four Big Ten coaches on the preseason watch list alongside Penn State’s James Franklin, Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz and USC’s Lincoln Riley. Those four coaches join a list that also includes Missouri’s Drinkwitz, Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman, Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy, LSU’s Brian Kelly, Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin, Texas’ Steve Sarkisian, Georgia’s Kirby Smart and Clemson’s Dabo Swinney, among others.
Ohio State has had just one head coach win the Dodd Trophy in the award’s 48-year history in Jim Tressel, who earned the honor in 2002 after leading the Buckeyes to an undefeated 14-0 record and their first national championship since 1970.
Day will enter this season looking to guide Ohio State to its first national championship since the 2014 season while also hoping to break a three-game losing streak to arch rival Michigan. He owns a 56-8 record as Ohio State’s head coach — the third-highest winning percentage by a head coach in program history — but has a 2-4 record in bowl games and a 1-6 record against teams ranked within the top five of the College Football Playoff rankings.
