Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith brought a visitor to meet university president Michael Drake in the summer of 2018.
It was Ryan Day, who had spent one season with the Buckeyes as their offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Smith viewed him as a rising star.
After Day received job offers earlier that offseason, Smith recalled a conversation with then-coach Urban Meyer about the importance of keeping the assistant on staff.
"We've got to do everything we can to retain him," Meyer said, "because he is a guy that is special and can do it here one day."
The exchange captured Smith's attention. He sometimes brought aspiring head coaches to chat with Drake to "understand the big picture of the university." But he saw it as particularly necessary to usher Day into the president's office, hoping he might come to familiarize himself with the inner workings as a prime future candidate to lead the powerhouse football program.
"I thought he was a guy that could eventually take over for Urban," Smith said, "either if he stayed here or went somewhere else."
The rest of the story is well known.
Months later, Day was installed as acting head coach for preseason practices and the first three games after Meyer was suspended for his handling of domestic abuse allegations involving a former assistant. Day led the Buckeyes to three blowout wins. As health issues related to an arachnoid cyst prompted Meyer to retire by the end of the season, Day was tapped as the successor. In his first full season at the helm this fall, he returned Ohio State to the College Football Playoff amid an unbeaten regular season in which the Buckeyes torpedoed opponents.
