5 Ryan Day replacements Ohio State needs to actually beat Michigan

Ryan Day has won a lot of games with the Ohio State Buckeyes. But after a stunning upset in Columbus on Saturday, it's looking more and more like he can't win the one that matters.

The Buckeyes lost for the fourth straight time to rival Michigan on Saturday, despite coming into The Game as three-score favorites and in different tiers of teams this season. To make this one even worse, Ohio State players got into a post-loss brawl with their rivals on the field at midfield, making an already sad scene for the Buckeyes even more of a blemish.

Four straight losses to Michigan, no matter how many times Ohio State has been to or flirted with the College Football Playoff, is unacceptable. That's the one game Ryan Day couldn't lose — and now it's looking like he can't win it.

So it's only natural for Ohio State fans to be calling for Ryan Day's job now, and it's also perhaps justified. In any case, though, the bigger question would then be who the Buckeyes could hire that could actually beat Michigan and make OSU what it should be. These four Day replacements certainly come to mind.

5. Dan Lanning is the dream but is unbelievably unlikely for OSU

Every Ohio State fan's likely first pick for who could replace Ryan Day would be current Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning. And why wouldn't it be? All Lanning has shown in his coaching career is that he's a proven winner. He won titles with the Georgia Bulldogs as the defensive coordinator under Kirby Smart, knocked on the door of the College Football Playoff last year at Oregon, and has had the Ducks ranked No. 1 for much of the 2024 season.

In terms of program-building, culture-building, and recruiting, you don't need two hands to count the coaches better than Lanning. The unfortunate truth for Buckeyes fans dreaming about getting him to Columbus, however, is that it takes a hard, long stretch of the imagination to see Lanning leaving the Ducks in this siutation.

For one, the Phil Knight-backed investment in Eugene all but guarantees that Oregon will do whatever it takes to keep this thing running. Ohio State could have a hard time getitng past that. More importantly, we saw Lanning in line to replace Nick Saban at Alabama last offseason and he essentially turned it down. What are the chances that he'd now take the job at OSU? In my estimation, not likely at all — that said, he still has to be mentioned because Buckeyes fans will want him.

4. If Lane Kiffin wants the job, he could do wonders at Ohio State

Granted, this probably would've sounded better if Lane Kiffin and the Ole Miss Rebels were bound for the College Football Playoff and didn't lose to Florida to ruin those hopes (at least likely so) for the Rebs. At the same time, though, the things potentially hindering Kiffin in Oxford could likely be overcome in Columbus.

Kiffin has enjoyed quite a bit of success at Ole Miss, where he took the job after leaving FAU in 2020. In the four non-COVID seasons, the Rebels haven't won fewer than eight games in any year and have two seasons finishing inside the Top 11 of the final AP Top 25. This is all without the recruiting advantages, NIL warchest or even just the name on the helment that compares to what Ohio State has to offer.

Since being tarmac'd at USC, we've seen Kiffin both progress and mature (at least somewhat) as a head coach. I've long been intrigued about the possibility of what his mind and vision for a program with limitless resources could mean for that program. Ohio State fits that bill and the fit would be intriguing.

3. Matt Campbell has done more with less at Iowa State

Much like Kiffin, I'm always interested in head coaching candidates at a place like Ohio State who weren't born on third base, to borrow a phrase from a certain Michigan coach. Matt Campbell is an even more extreme example of that with what he's done throughout his coaching career and continues to do as well.

Campbell got his first head coaching job at Toledo and proceeded to tie for first in the MAC in his final two seasons after four straight winning campaigns and a 35-15 overall record. His success at Iowa State thereafter has been tremendous. The Cyclones were 3-9 in the 2016 season, his first with the program, but have only had one losing season since. And again, this is at Iowa State!

Few have proven to be the combination of a talent developer and a culture-builder in the way that Campbell has. Winning at Iowa State isn't easy — doing so as consistently as he has is next to impossible. When you then think about what he could then do if he had the resources in Columbus available to him, the upside is exponential, especially after watching Day do less with more for several years now.

2. Mike Vrabel's homecoming to Ohio State would be game-changing

Of course we have to mention Mike Vrabel, who was fired as the head coach of the Tennessee Titans after last season. He's currently a consultant for the Cleveland Browns but, given that he's an Ohio State alum and legend, it only figures that he'll be on the radar if the Buckeyes do indeed choose to move on from Day and replace him.

Following his NFL career, Vrabel was a linebackers and defensive line coach in Columbus under Urban Meyer before making his way to the NFL coaching ranks in 2014. That being said, his experience in the program as a player and assistant coach could serve him well, as could the fact that he's a proven head coach at the NFL level.

The big hangup for Vrabel coming to Ohio State is really if he would want the job. While it's not hard to talk yourself into the idea of him returning to his alma mater and finding success, many reports have indicated he prefers to stay in the NFL, where he will surely have suitors this offseason. That could keep this dream reunion for the Buckeyes could happen but the administration should absolutely still try.

1. Screw it, just bring back Urban Meyer

Yeah, we have to talk about this.

Urban Meyer was a disaster in his last coaching foray with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Of course, Nick Saban failed in the NFL, eventually landed at Alabama, and we saw how that worked out. So given the tremendous success that Meyer enjoyed during his tenure with the Ohio State Buckeyes, you have to talk about the possibility of bringing him back into the fold.

Meyer has a national championship with the Buckeyes (and two more from his time at Florida), three Big Ten Championships, and a long list of draft picks and more accolades that he can boast. Ohio State has a rich, lustrous history but you could make the argument that no one has ever had things humming, especially in the modern era, quite like Meyer did in Columbus.

There were, of course, plenty of issues with Meyer off the field. But with Ohio State likely feeling desperate if they choose to move on from Ryan Day, then the prospect of bringing back a force like Meyer is too great to overlook. Whether he wants to leave a cushy desk job with FOX remains to be seen but Ohio State will surely kick the tires to see if they can sway him.