Fox Sports’ Bruce Feldman added a surprising candidate to Texas A&M’s search for its next head football coach, but it could all hinge on how Ohio State-Michigan — a No. 2 vs. No. 3 showdown, with plenty of College Football Playoff implications — unfolds Saturday afternoon.
During a “Big Noon Kickoff” segment, Feldman reported Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day could emerge as a potential option in the Aggies’ coaching search, especially if the Wolverines earn their third consecutive win in the rivalry.
It seemed far from definitive that Day could be considered a candidate, more likely resembling a dream scenario for the Aggies where they could land one of the sport’s top coaches to try to ensure relevance at the top of the SEC again.
“Now if [the Buckeyes] win here today and beat the Wolverines, I seriously doubt with them in the playoff mix that he would be taking that call,” Feldman said. “But the Aggies, I think, are optimistic that if they don’t win that game, that he might be open to their pitch.”
After Feldman’s segment, former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer, who Day inherited the program from, cracked a smile and proceeded to push back on the report, adding, “I love you Bruce, no way.”
It’d mark a seismic shift in the college football coaching landscape if Day bolted from Ohio State, similar to when Brian Kelly left Notre Dame for LSU or when Lincoln Riley left Oklahoma for USC in 2021.
Day has compiled a 56-6 record as Ohio State’s head coach entering Saturday, and the Buckeyes haven’t lost a game this season — securing top-10 wins against Notre Dame and Penn State — en route to positioning themselves for another CFP berth.
They lost in the national semifinals last year when Noah Ruggles missed a 50-yard field goal in the final seconds of a 42-41 thriller against undefeated Georgia, too.
Still, Day has just one win against Michigan, which won’t have head coach Jim Harbaugh on the sidelines as part of his continued suspension that runs through the end of the regular season amid the Wolverines’ sign-stealing scandal.
Ohio State crushed the Wolverines, 56-27, in Day’s first year as head coach after taking over the program from Meyer, but they haven’t finished within 15 points of the Wolverines the past two seasons.
“Now, as you know, Day is 56-6 as a head coach, and he came within a field goal within the last second of knocking off Georgia in the CFP,” Feldman said in his report Saturday. “But keep in mind, the specter of back-to-back losses to the hated archrival Michigan hangs heavy over Columbus.”
Before floating Day’s name into the Texas A&M conversation, Feldman also listed Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman , Kansas head coach Lance Leipold and Duke head coach Mike Elko — who previously served as the Aggies’ defensive coordinator — as possible candidates.
The Aggies fired Jimbo Fisher on Nov. 12 after a 6-4 start to the season, essentially paying the longtime coach around $77 million to not coach the program throughout the remainder of his 10-year contract.