When Urban Meyer wasn’t around the team for fall camp and the first three games of the season, Ohio State’s football program didn’t fall apart. The team kept winning, opening the season with three straight victories, and everything went about as smoothly as possible without Meyer behind the scenes.
No one knew it at the time, but Ryan Day was undergoing a tryout to become the next head coach. Athletic director Gene Smith, who also served a nearly three-week suspension at the beginning of the football season, watched as Day managed his way around both on-field and off-field occurrences.