Ohio
Ohio State football players never lost trust in Ryan Day to lead them to national title
ATLANTA – Ohio State coach Ryan Day escaped injury Monday night inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium when the driver of the cart used to transport him and two players to the postgame interview room struck a concrete corridor wall.
The collision was more comical than scary. OSU quarterback, Will Howard, seated behind his coach, laughed about it. But regardless of the danger level, Day’s players are convinced the accident never would have happened if their coach had been driving. Because the man they love and trust never hits the wall.
“There were times when I would get in early to the Woody (practice facility) and thinking I’m getting work done, and I would walk past coach’s office and he’s already there,” linebacker Cody Simon said Tuesday. “He’s been watching film and his eyes are bloodshot. He puts that extra time in that no one else in the world is putting in.
“When I see that, there is no one I’d rather trust than coach Day, and I wholeheartedly believe he is, and always will be, the best coach I’ve ever been a part of. The story of our entire team is we all trusted in the leadership of coach Day.”
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Trusting is not how I would describe the public attitude toward Day after this season’s 13-10 loss to Michigan, when it felt like a majority of Ohio State fans wondered if the 45-year-old coach was right for the job.
But Day’s players never wavered in their support, even when that wall – the one he never hits – began to collapse on him.
Ryan Day fan support dropped after losses to Oregon, Michigan
It began after the first meeting with Oregon, when critics lambasted Day for getting outsmarted by Ducks coach Dan Lanning. But that was nothing compared to Michigan, when Day rightfully got grilled for buttoning the offense, which played into the paws of the Wolverines.
At that point, social media put out an all points bulletin on finding Day … another job outside Columbus. Four consecutive losses to Michigan was too hard to stomach.
Players saw it differently. You don’t easily give up on someone who never gives up on you, and to hear them tell it, Day is a father figure who would take a bullet for them.
“We think he’s the best coach in the country, and we’d do anything for him,” safety Jordan Hancock said, shouting Monday night above the din of a raucous locker room following the 34-23 win over Notre Dame. “We love this program so much and we love coach Day so much.”
That refrain, “We love coach Day so much,” was a recurring refrain through the locker room. And I have to admit the emotion behind those words got to me, because it was real.
It’s easy to tell when players are blowing smoke about how much they like their coach, when it’s just what you’re supposed to say. This was not that. This was genuine.
“It’s not hard to believe,” senior wide receiver Emeka Egbuka said of winning the national championship. “The reason we’re able to be in this moment is because everybody believed.”
Believed in themselves. Believed in the Brotherhood. Believed in their coach.
“I never doubted our head coach,” Egbuka said. “I see the hours he puts in and how much he cares for this team. It’s so genuine. To see the backlash and ridicule he gets online, people saying to fire him, when I see what the real is.”
Egbuka, a quiet and too often overlooked leader of the offense, did not hold back in sharing how it bothers him that “There are going to be people in his corner now who weren’t in his corner a couple weeks ago. But everyone on this team has belief in him.”
Wide receiver Brandon Inniss took it a step further.
“They’re not questioning us anymore, or coach Day, either,” he said. “That was our biggest thing. We were playing for him. Everyone kept doubting him and telling him he wasn’t a good coach, but we came together for him and won a national championship.”
Will Howard owes Ryan Day his football life
Finally, there is Howard, who worked more closely with Day than anyone.
It is one thing to like your coach. It is something else to talk about him with such loving care and kindness that it feels like a group hug just happened.
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day describes emotions of beating Notre Dame
Ohio State’s Ryan Day discusses the journey his team went on to become college football national champions.
Sports Pulse
“First and foremost, I owe so much to this guy,” Howard said of Day. “He gave me a chance here and he bet on me and I am forever indebted to him for that.”
Day coached Howard hard, nitpicking and developing him into the type of efficient and accurate quarterback it takes to win a national title.
“He’s probably the best coach I’ve ever been around,” Howard continued. “I’ve never seen someone work a game like coach Day does. None of us ever doubted that he was the right guy to lead this team. We stuck together and said we want to do it for each other and for our coach.”
And they did.
roller@dispatch.com
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LICKING COUNTY, Ohio (WCMH) — When you think of wild animals in central Ohio, a black bear likely isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. That’s why one Licking County family said they couldn’t believe their eyes.
It was an average afternoon drive home for father and son, Justin and Aaron Rhodes, when something walked into the road in front of them.
“I didn’t even think it was real at first, so that’s why I had to do the double take,” Justin said.
Aaron said he thought it was “just a weird looking dog”.
To their disbelief, it was a bear. The sighting comes just one year after the animal was spotted in Licking County for the first time in more than two decades.
“It’s kind of hard to believe that they’re even around this area,” Justin said. “I’ve lived in this area for about 24 years now, so it’s been quite a while, and I’ve never seen one before.”
These sightings are becoming more common. The Ohio Division of Wildlife said the black bear population is growing in the state, and they expect those trends to continue. Ohio saw a record number of confirmed sightings in 2025.
Lindsey Krusling, a wildlife communications specialist with the Ohio Division of Wildlife, said they are seeing more breeding females establish homes in the state, signaling the species is returning. Experts said the work restoring natural forest land is a big reason why.
“We’re starting to get some black bears coming in from neighboring states like Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky,” Krusling said. “They’re naturally crossing those state borders and coming back to Ohio because we have more of that habitat available to them, especially those forested areas.”
As the black bear population grows, the Division of Wildlife is expanding its research. They are putting radio collars on some bears they find in the state to help track data, such as if the bears are staying here, how far they’ve traveled and if they’re successfully having cubs.
“We’re trying to get quite a bit of data from these bears, and we’re super excited to see where this takes us,” Krusling said.
The research is in the beginning stages, but they expect population growth to continue, Krusling said.
Sighting reports can be submitted here to help the Division of Wildlife track black bear populations throughout the state.
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Real estate transfers in Licking County, Ohio, range from $85,000 to $865,000
The following are property transfers recorded in Licking County from June 1-5, 2026.
First name indicates the seller; second name represents the buyer
Buckeye Lake
- 502 Providence Lane; Cohagen, Christopher C and Lori A; Adams, Jeffrey L and Boyce-Adams, Jo Anna; 6/1/2026; $511,000
- 131 Cranberry Lane; Smart, Amy and Kidwell, Kevin K; Sew and Minor, Christian; 6/1/2026; $262,000
Etna Township
- 116 Cameron Drive SW; Ray, Erica L; Darjee, Sanjay and Laxmi and Dil; 6/2/2026; $412,000
- 119 Kraner St. SW; Adkins, Zane and Amy; Culbertson, Brenton Howard; 6/1/2026; $368,500
- 160 Dusky Willow Drive; Willow Reserve LLC; Martin, Alaina K; 6/2/2026; $290,940
Granville
- 119 Derwyn Del Way; Lifer, David C and Julia H; Martin, Michael and Lisa; 6/1/2026; $865,000
- 39 Victoria Drive; Acton, Wendy S and Paul J; Cannon, Matthew Evan and Zywica, Natalie Nicole; 6/2/2026; $835,000
Granville Township
- 49 Alberry Drive; Halliday, Lucas and Breayne; Howe, Jason and Kathryn; 6/2/2026; $570,000
Harrison Township
- 102 Whirlaway Loop; Rice, Dawn (Trustee); Bope, Maria and Shane; 6/2/2026; $420,000
Heath
- 1306 Kacey Court; Fischer Homes Columbus II LLC; Owens, Blake Andrew and Taylor Marie; 6/2/2026; $437,779
- 805 Fieldson Drive; Flowers, Ingrit; Harder, Noah C; 6/2/2026; $250,000
Hebron
- 802 Cumberland Meadows Circle; Lines, Marlene S; Gerhart, Jamie A and Ralph W Jr; 6/2/2026; $232,000
Johnstown
- 101 Bigelow Drive; McGovern, Matthew S and Jennifer L; Sanford, Jessica; 6/2/2026; $442,500
Liberty Township
- 5844 Nichols Lane Road NW; La Jeunesse, Garth E and Debra; Nesselroad, William Heath and Annie; 6/1/2026; $629,000
- 7211 Northridge Road NW; Devault, Robert E Jr and Joann; Esbenshade, Travis M and Lowe, Shelby M; 6/1/2026; $495,000
Newark
- 2110 Overlook Way; D.R. Horton-Indiana LLC; Tarsha, Michele A; 6/1/2026; $433,335
- 1162 Taylor Ave.; Heath Fluid LLC; Anglada, Gabriel P and Salina T; 6/1/2026; $200,000
- 32 Postal Ave. W.; Palmisano, Phil; Moore, Dominic Michael and Miksich, Paige Elizabeth; 6/1/2026; $198,900
- 75 Gay St.; Velez, Marcos A; Camell, Campbell; 6/1/2026; $155,000
- 655 Evans St.; TNL; McRada Properties LLC; 6/1/2026; $145,000
- 63 Wallace St.; FDA Peachtree LLC; Burns, Amber L; 6/2/2026; $86,500
- 404 10th St.; Synergy Group Properties LLC; Busy Boys Restoration LLC; 6/2/2026; $85,000
Reynoldsburg
- 8447 Rodebaugh Road; Collins, Carol J; Thorpe, Kimberley Lynn and Henry, Steven; 6/2/2026; $340,000
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