Michigan legend plants seed of mutiny in Ohio State coaching room

Football season is approaching. Although the Autumn Wind is a Raider, I am getting a few wafts downwind of a potential mutiny on the horizon just up the Olentangy. Yes, I am talking about the controversial decision for Ohio State head coach Ryan Day to hire his mentor in former UCLA head coach Chip Kelly to be his new offensive coordinator ahead of the 2024 college football season.

In theory, this should work. Day played quarterback in Kelly's offense at New Hampshire in the very early 2000s. He served under Kelly on both his Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers staffs before coming back to the college game to serve under another mentor of his in his predecessor Urban Meyer. Of course, noted Michigan man Desmond Howard thinks it could hit the fan for him.

On Friday's episode of Get Up, Howard planted the seed that we could see a Columbus mutiny.

“Some fans would say, ‘Well if we got rid of Ryan Day, who will we hire?’. They went out and hired Chip Kelly as the offensive coordinator. If things go awry, I think they have somebody who’s behind Ryan Day where they can say, ‘Chip Kelly can be the next coach, too.'”

The 1991 Heisman Trophy winner then mentioned the amount of resources Ohio State has put in.

“It’s like this. I think the people at Ohio State just pushed all of their chips to the center of the table. They went and spent about $13 million on free agents – well, college football’s version of free agency with the portal and NIL.”

Howard's grand conclusion is Day is firmly on the hot seat right now. He is under so much pressure...

“I think that Ryan Day? He’s on the hot seat right now."

Howard is not alone in his take. Cody Williams and I said this on the Big Ten preview for False Start.

What is it going to take for Day to keep his job, for Day to lose it and if Kelly is the right replacement?

Desmond Howard feels Ohio State will turn on Ryan Day for Chip Kelly

I think the first portion of the three-part question I proposed above to answer is the one concerning Kelly. Is he the right replacement for Day? No, no, no, no, no! The man has less interest in recruiting than even Dan Mullen. He wants to be a head coach, but shies away from some of the responsibilities that come with it. Kelly was a genius as a play-caller, but he has been mostly a one-trick pony with it.

While he is in a role he is probably overqualified for in some capacities, Kelly's unique skill set often has him at ends with the job he currently has. Ideally, he should have gone the Gary Patterson, Gary Pinkel, Bill Snyder route of dominating at a mid-tier Power Four program where recruiting is not overly important, but player development is key. It is too bad Oregon evolved while he was coaching there.

As far as what Day needs to do, he must get Ohio State into the College Football Playoff and not lose to Michigan. If the team went 11-1 with the Buckeyes' lone loss being to the Wolverines, he might survive, especially if Ohio State reaches its potential as a final four team. 10-2 in the Big Ten should still get the Buckeyes into the expanded field, but a 9-3 season probably means the end of the line.

Overall, what you have to remember beyond the absurd amount of pressure Day is under is that he has a new boss in Ross Bjork. The former Texas A&M and Ole Miss athletic director did not hire him. The recently retired Gene Smith promoted him from within when Meyer decided to abruptly retire again. Bjork gets his football teams into the news, but he never leaves a place better than he found it.

If this mutiny occurred, Ohio State should hire Luke Fickell, Marcus Freeman or Mike Vrabel instead.