There is perhaps no better way to sum up the current state of the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry than ESPN’s Desmond Howard going on live television to express both pity and sympathy for Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day.
Howard, the 1991 Heisman winner at Michigan and Wolverines icon, went on an impassioned rant about Day’s critics during College GameDay before Friday night’s College Football Playoff game between Notre Dame and Indiana. Whether this was an elaborate troll is certainly up for debate.
What is clear however is just how funny the whole thing was, intentional or not.
With a straight face, Howard explained that Ohio State’s athletic department put too much pressure on Day by giving him the type of resources the vast majority of programs would sell their souls to obtain.
Take a look:
Desmond Howard claims Ohio State put Ryan Day in a bad situation and it led to some fireworks on College GameDay. pic.twitter.com/BEQwbfRvfd
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 20, 2024
Here’s the transcript, per Awful Announcing:
“During the offseason, when they spent $20 million to go handpick some players in the portal to bring them to Columbus, the primary reason was to beat Michigan,And I thought they put him in a bad situation. Not only that but then they went out and got Chip Kelly, who was the head coach of UCLA and became his offensive coordinator. In my opinion, that was like the athletic director and the powers that be saying, ‘We’re pushing all of our chips in the middle of the table, Ryan, this is the year you have to get it done.’ And I thought that was too much pressure on him — I really do. I put out an Instagram message once I saw that, and I said, ‘Man, this is unfair.”
Desmond Howard thinks Ohio State spending $20 million dollars to handpick players from the transfer portal and getting Day’s old buddy Chip Kelly to leave his head coaching gig at UCLA to become Ohio State’s offensive was somehow unfair to Day. He probably feels bad about Goliath having all that pressure to defeat David.
Alabama crying poor has been dethroned as the most obtuse comment of the season in less than 72 hours.
Look, there are a lot of things unfair in the world of college football. Ohio State’s losing streak against Michigan is not one of them. Especially considering the Buckeyes are in the College Football Playoff!
As for Day, he’s paid quite handsomely to handle the pressure of coaching at Ohio State. No one needs to weep for the man earning $10 million per year because he lost a football game. Not when the standards for success in Columbus have remain unchanged since the Woody Hayes era.
If Howard is trolling here, it’s absolutely masterful. Michigan went 7-5 this season and was more or less a huge disappointment. Yet beating Ohio State allows Wolverines fans to hold the high ground and offer some unwanted words of advice for their rival.
If Howard isn’t trolling, he’s completely lost the plot. Either way, college fans should enjoy a good, hearty laugh at his comments.
