COLUMBUS, Ohio _ The mourning of the postponement of the 2020 football season for Ohio State continues, Ryan Day said, but he and his team are already looking forward.
"I gave myself last night to throw a pity party, but I woke up today and got back to work," the Ohio State coach said Wednesday on a conference call with reporters. "Because that's what life is, and that's what sports are."
Day didn't agree with the Big Ten's decision not to play this fall. He said he, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith and incoming president Kristina Johnson were in alignment on that.
Ohio State pushed for a delay in the season instead of a postponement. The league decided otherwise and pointed to a possible spring season as an alternative if the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic can be controlled.
Day wants it to be a winter season, not a spring one. He advocated for one that would start in early January and consist of eight or nine games. An earlier start would provide a more acceptable cushion before the start of the regular 2021 season than a spring season would, he said.
Day even raised the possibility of playing other Big Ten schools that were also in favor of not canceling, such as Michigan, Nebraska and Penn State, in the fall.
"That's a fluid situation," he said.
Day said he feels strongly that his 2020 team, ranked second in the preseason coaches poll behind Clemson, would have been a special one. As dominating as the 2019 team was before losing in a College Football Playoff semifinal, Day believed his current one had "once-in-a-lifetime" potential.
In some form, at some time as soon as possible, Day hasn't given up hope of seeing that team take the field.
