Ohio State head coach Ryan Day looks down the sidelines in the first half of the game against Northwestern on Oct. 18. Ohio State won 52-3. Credit: Casey Cascaldo | Former Managing Editor for Multimedia
While calls for a reinstatement of the football season from parents and student-athletes have fallen flat, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day has picked up the fight.
Day took to Twitter to release a statement Thursday about the Big Ten’s handling of the football season since its postponement Aug. 11. Day expressed an understanding of the decision to postpone in light of safety concerns, but continued to express confusion on the conference’s communication and differing stance compared to other conferences playing fall football.
“While I understand the Big Ten Conference’s decision to postpone the football season because of health and safety considerations, the communication from the Big Ten following the decision has been disappointing and often unclear,” Day said in the statement. “However, we still have an opportunity to give our young men what they have worked so hard for: a chance to safely compete for a national championship this fall.”
Day praised his team and the Ohio State medical and athletic communities for their unity throughout the pandemic.
While he expressed discontent with the lack of transparency from the league office, he said that the Big Ten medical subcommittee has done a fine job in creating a safe pathway for a potential return to play in mid-October.
“These young men and their parents have asked so many questions that I do not have an answer to, but the one that hurts the most is ‘Why can these other teams and players play and we can’t?’” Day said in the statement.
Day referenced that Notre Dame, Duke, Wake Forest and Clemson are playing games this weekend.
“Our players want to know: why can’t they play?” Day concluded.
