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Ohio State is the model to follow. Not Indiana. Not Colorado. Not Oregon.
Since expanding to 10-game seasons in 1968, Ohio State has been remarkably consistent — winning eight or more games in every year but six: 1971, 1978 (Woody Hayes’ final season), 1987 (Earle Bruce’s last), 1988 (John Cooper’s first), 2001 (Jim Tressel’s first) and 2011 (Luke Fickell’s only).
Urban Meyer never won fewer than 10 games at Ohio State, compiling an 83–9 record during his tenure.
The machine in Columbus works. Every coach who takes the job knows the pressure that comes with it — the expectation to keep the Buckeyes rolling. Ryan Day is the latest to shoulder that weight.
Since taking over as Ohio State’s head coach in 2019, Day has compiled a 77-10 record. As the transfer portal reshaped college football and immediate eligibility became the norm, Ohio State consistently retained the talent it needed — and attracted the players it wanted.
Head coach Ryan Day of the Ohio State Buckeyes is interviewed after defeating the Penn State Nittany Lions. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
Ohio State’s coaching and support staffs remain among the best in the nation. From Larry Johnson Sr.’s dominant defensive line, to strength coach Mickey Marotti’s ability to turn big, fast, strong players into even bigger, faster, stronger ones, to general manager Mark Pantoni’s unmatched eye for talent — the Buckeyes have built a program that’s both nimble and powerful in an era of chaos across college football.
When a market inefficiency emerges, the Buckeyes exploit it. When others complained about having to pay big salaries to players through NIL, Ohio State formed not one, but two collectives and raised millions to pay them.
Whether it’s paying top dollar to players they deem indispensable — like wideout Jeremiah Smith, Heisman hopeful quarterback Julian Sayin, or do-it-all safety Caleb Downs — or letting elite defensive coordinator Jim Knowles walk, Ohio State’s moves have been both prescient and priceless in a year defined by uncertainty and administrative turmoil.
Penn State is an example of what can happen if you move too quickly. James Franklin hired Knowles from Ohio State, but his system needed three years before the Buckeyes won a national title.
The Nittany Lions doubled down on talent like quarterback Drew Allar — the type of player the Buckeyes might have let walk — and, like some Buckeye fans, overlooked how OSU’s staff navigated a razor-thin margin for four years before finally building a team that won a national title for the first time in a decade.
And that wasn’t an easy climb. By Ohio State standards, Day and his staff took the tougher path — one that ultimately put him alongside Hayes, Bruce, Tressel, and Meyer as national champions.
Ohio State coach Urban Meyer hugs quarterback Cardale Jones #12 in the fourth quarter against Oregon during the College Football Playoff National Championship Game. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
Ohio State hasn’t beaten Michigan since 2019, and Day’s Buckeyes haven’t won a Big Ten title since 2020. Yet Buckeye brass stood by him and his staff. While everyone around him was losing their heads and blaming him for it all, Day turned to Rudyard Kipling’s “If” — proving himself a man fit to stand tall and bear the weight.
That took wherewithal — a man and a team who found something deeper. It took an administration with mustard-seed faith in the program it stewards.
It took guts.
And now, you can see the programs that don’t have them.
Penn State, LSU and Florida are just three of a dozen FBS programs to fire coaches before Halloween.
Penn State lost to teams like UCLA and plucky Northwestern, and even with a 128-60 record from 2014-2025, three consecutive New Year’s Six Bowl appearances, and its first College Football Playoff berth, it wasn’t enough. They fired James Franklin.
When Billy Napier’s promise at Louisiana didn’t translate to Year 4 at Florida — no SEC title game, no CFP appearance — the Gators hit reset. They fired him.
When LSU fell to 3-4, even a 34-14 record, a Heisman winner in Jayden Daniels, and an SEC title game appearance couldn’t save Brian Kelly. They fired him.
And then it got worse at LSU — it got political.
Yes, the Indiana Hoosiers have made perennial powers like Florida, Wisconsin, and USC look bad, turning the program into a national title contender with one brilliant hire. Indiana’s administration pulled off a feat as improbable as hitting a bullet with another bullet from 1,000 yards away. Yet programs keep trying to do the same thing with enormous buyouts, paying coaches who have proven they can win, and often expecting instant results rather than patience.
They’re playing Powerball with donor money, hoping to hit a Curt Cignetti-level coach, not out of desperation, but because they’re as impatient as a teething toddler with the attention span of a gnat.
Head coach Curt Cignetti of the Indiana Hoosiers and head coach Dan Lanning of the Oregon Ducks meet at midfield following their game at Autzen Stadium. (Photo by Soobum Im/Getty Images)
It takes time to build an edifice that lasts. It takes time to do the boring jobs that keep it pristine and sturdy. It takes time to become as familiar with winning as most folks are with their living-room couch.
Not everyone has time, but we make time for what matters. We’ve decided college football is paramount.
Good coaches who enjoy a strong season get raises. Those who endure a bad one might not have a job next year. It’s a multi-million dollar gig — they’re fine.
Fans are not.
Patience isn’t a virtue in our sport. Winning is.
And when Indiana gets held up as an example of excellence, remember: it’s the losingest program in FBS history. It took more than 100 years for the Hoosiers to get good. Considering most fans won’t live long enough to see a program like that reach national title contention, the reset button looks even more enticing. So programs hit — relentlessly.
So it goes until the sport finds stability in the era of revenue-sharing, NIL, and nearly unchecked roster turnover.
This is the sport. This is reality.
This is also the same sport and reality Ohio State continues to thrive in.
They’re playing the game exactly as it is professionalized, while most aren’t brave enough to commit fully. To be like the Buckeyes demands everything — I dare you to try.
RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports. Follow him @RJ_Young.
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