Winning the national championship did not save Ryan Day's job

As the Ohio State Buckeyes steamrolled through the College Football Playoffs, Buckeye Nation rejoiced. The Buckeyes won each of their four games by double digits. Tennessee, Oregon, Texas and Notre Dame could not match OSU's angry onslaught. The team took on an "us against the world" mentality and it was fun to watch… assuming of course that you are an Ohio State fan.For sure the purpose of this column is to crow a little about Ohio State football. It is also about the title of this piece. Perhaps you noticed the wording. I have a bit of a pet peeve and I will deal with it later.After the season ending loss to that school up north, many Buckeye fans were livid. On paper Ohio State would easily handle Michigan and head to the conference title game. Well, games are not played on paper and when the Wolverines upset the Bucks 13-10, Michigan's season was saved for many Wolverine fans and likewise, for many Ohio State fans, the Buckeyes season was a failure. Such is the importance of The Rivalry Game.Yet the playoffs still loomed and Ohio State would be in them. A second loss to top seeded Oregon was not enough to keep OSU out of the playoffs and a chance for redemption was there for the taking. And oh my, did they.I asked my three brothers-in-law for their thoughts heading into the playoffs. All three of them graduated from Ohio State and I think calling them rabid fans would be accurate. I wanted to know – if Ohio state rallied to win the National Championship, would that erase the loss to Michigan.Two of them immediately answered yes, while the third said "I don't know, it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth." I compared the situation to a high school team winning the state championship (pick your sport) even though they didn't win their league title. If you could choose one before the season started, wouldn't it be the state crown?Ohio State's run in the playoffs will have people faced with answering that question. Seriously, is beating Michigan better than winning the National Championship? For some…Let's look at the tournament run for a minute. Offensively Ohio State showed an incredible wide open look and seemed to score at will. Defensively they dominated in all four games and I think they proved without a doubt that the best team won the title. It had to take some of the sting out of the Michigan loss where the offense seemed unimaginative. Yes, I was among those that thought Ohio State's offensive game plan against the Wolverines was too conservative. But then again, if they had opened it up and a couple of pick sixes had occurred, Buckeye fans would still be complaining, alas for different reasons. You can hear them – in the Michigan game, you have to keep it close so you can have a chance to win it in the end. And on and on…Everybody is a coach and thinks they know everything. Poor coaching decisions are made all the time, particularly when a play doesn't work. If things always went the way you wanted, everyone would be forever happy. Except for the fans of the other team, of course.All right enough of the game. Let's look at the title of this column. What were you thinking when you read it? Did you think that Ryan Day had been fired (as many Buckeye fans clamored for after the Michigan game)? Perhaps you felt like it was something else that allowed him to keep his job.Either way you would be wrong. Ohio State athletic department officials will never give me the scoop on a firing so I can be the first to announce it. And what else would have saved his job if not the title? Yes, I can't think of anything else either.What I was thinking when I designed this column was the fact that Ryan Day's job was NEVER in jeopardy. The people who wanted his head were fans who are always unrealistic. They want more than any coach can give. Fortunately, the athletic director does not listen to the rumblings of avid fans.In my opinion Ryan Day didn't need to win the National Championship to save his job. He is an excellent coach and firing him would make no sense. But the win didn't hurt him either. Ohio State's A.D. will not listen to disgruntled fans, unless they are big money donors…but that is a whole other story.My pet peeve and the reason I used the title I did was to point our how misleading column headings can be. In this age of misinformation, trying to deceive the reader into reading a piece that may be totally different than the heading indicated is commonplace.I recall reading a story about Juan Soto before he signed in free agency. It read "Soto will play right field for the Giants." I didn't know he had signed with the Giants and I eagerly started reading the article. It said "Soto will play right field for the Giants if a proposed trade goes through." Then I was unhappy.I didn't enjoy being mislead and after this column, I promise not to try to mislead you, my loyal readers, ever again. I would like to know one thing though…When you read the title of this column, did you think "Oh my God, Ryan Day was fired!?!"