Ryan Day has already shown he is willing to change Ohio State’s usual routine when Michigan comes into the picture. Last year, the Buckeyes changed several parts of their preparation before traveling to Ann Arbor, and the new approach ended with a win over the Wolverines. Now, another decision has put Day’s approach to the rivalry back under the microscope.
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Day’s record against Michigan still gives the rivalry plenty of weight. He is 2-4 against the Wolverines as Ohio State’s head coach, with his latest win coming last November in Ann Arbor. That victory snapped a four-game losing streak, but the Buckeyes are now making another change to keep Michigan week as focused as possible.
Ohio State has now moved Senior Day from its traditional spot before the final regular-season home game against Michigan to the season opener against Ball State on September 5. Day said the move was meant to eliminate another distraction from Michigan week, a decision that drew a furious response from Barstool Sports’ Brandon Walker. “Ryan Day is incapable, even when he has the high ground, even when he has the national championship in recent years, even when he beat Michigan last year, of not seeming like a doofus when it comes to the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry… That is a crazy, crazy, crazy thing, and only the twisted, warped mind of Ryan Day could come up with it,” Walker said. He added, “You didn’t lose those years to Michigan because you were honoring your seniors. You lost to them because you didn’t know how to prepare your team for it. And you tried to beat Michigan in a prideful way instead of the way you were supposed to beat them by out-athleting them and out-scheming them. You tried to outtough them, and they were tougher than you.”
Day opened his Ohio State tenure with a 56-27 win over Michigan in 2019, but the Wolverines answered with four straight victories from 2021 through 2024. Ohio State finally ended that run last November, when the Buckeyes won 27-9 in Ann Arbor. Day is now 2-4 against Michigan, while the Wolverines lead the all-time series 62-52-6.
The rivalry record, however, is only one part of Day’s Ohio State tenure. He owns an 82-12 record with the Buckeyes and led the program to the 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship. The 2025 Michigan win also showed that his more controlled approach to rivalry week could work.
Day had already started changing the way Ohio State prepared for Michigan before the 2025 trip to Ann Arbor. The Buckeyes replaced their traditional bus ride from Columbus with a charter flight, moved the marching band’s practice visit away from rivalry week and shifted the Senior Tackle tradition out of the week as well. The goal was to keep the team’s routine as close to a normal road trip as possible and clear more time for football.
Those changes were followed by the result Day wanted. Ohio State beat Michigan 27-9 on November 29, 2025, snapping the Buckeyes’ four-game losing streak in the rivalry. Whatever Walker thinks of Day’s methods, the result gives Day a strong case for continuing to simplify Ohio State’s Michigan-week routine.
This time, Ohio State has taken that approach even further. Senior Day, traditionally held before the final regular-season home game, will now be held before the season opener against Ball State. The ceremony itself is not being canceled; it is simply being moved earlier. The idea came from athletic director Ross Bjork and the Ohio State administration, with senior players also consulted before the change was finalized.
“It first came to be from our administration as an idea, and we talked about it. The traditions here at Ohio State are significant and very, very strong, and something we all respect. What we don’t want to do is do anything that is going to disrupt any of those traditions. But when we look at everything that goes on that weekend, how things have changed, there’s some things that we thought about… There’s already enough distractions during that week, so this was just one more thing that we felt like we could move,” Day said.
“We said, ‘Well, why don’t we just recognize all the seniors at the beginning of the year? Let them know we appreciate everything they’ve done and then kind of move on with the season?’” Day said.
The pressure around Michigan also predates Day. Urban Meyer went 7-0 against the Wolverines during his Ohio State tenure, setting an extremely high standard for the rivalry. Day won his first meeting with Michigan 56-27 in 2019, but then watched the Wolverines win four straight before Ohio State finally answered last season.
Day’s decision is therefore harder to dismiss than Walker makes it sound. His previous Michigan-week changes were followed by a 27-9 win in Ann Arbor, and he now has another season to prove that removing distractions can help Ohio State in The Game. But by moving Senior Day away from the rivalry altogether, Day has once again shown just how much Michigan can shape the way Ohio State prepares for The Game.