The Michigan Wolverines are not taking part in the National Championship on Monday. But still, longtime ESPN personality and notable Michigan alum Desmond Howard found a way to include Michigan in the conversation ahead of Monday’s matchup between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Much to Howard’s disappointment given the longstanding Ohio State-Michigan rivalry, the Buckeyes have found a way to rebound from a loss late in the regular season to Michigan to make it all the way to the National Championship.
When speaking about how the Buckeyes made it to this point on Monday’s special edition of College GameDay ahead of the big game, Howard outlined how Ohio State head coach Ryan Day has had to deal with the “psychotic obsession” that Ohio State fans have for Michigan, which had led to Day being criticized more than he may deserve due to his lack of success against the Wolverines.
“I think Ryan Day is a really good coach,” said Howard on College GameDay, which was transcribed by On3 Sports. “I think he’s a really good guy. I think that some of the criticism that he’s gotten from his fan base, a segment of the fan base, is probably too much. But I mean, we understand exactly how they feel, the Ohio State fans, about the Michigan game and when you lose that game, you understand what comes along with that. What he deserves tonight is just part of the job, and he knew that before he took it.
“But he has a chance tonight to, I guess, just get rid of some of the fans who were on his case and guys who thought he should be fired. You can get those guys on his side tonight with a win in the National Championship game against Notre Dame. You coached there, Coach Saban, you played there, Kirk (Herbstreit). Fair or unfair, it is what it is. And they have a psychotic obsession with Michigan. As the head coach, you’re going to have to deal with that.”
On one hand, it may indeed have been too harsh for Ohio State fans to call for Day, who has a 69-10 record since taking over as head coach of the program, to be fired following the Michigan loss.
But with that being said, Day has consistently named beating Michigan as one of his main goals heading into each season. So it should certainly be fair game for the fanbase to criticize him for consistently failing to achieve one of his main goals year after year.
Regardless, it has quickly become a trend for College GameDay cast members to openly criticize the Ohio State fanbase on the show.
Howard’s comments actually mirror comments from his College GameDay castmate Kirk Herbstreit pretty closely from earlier this season, who called the Ohio State fanbase a “lunatic fringe“.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.