“It got heavy”: Ohio State HC Ryan Day opens up about losing his father to suicide

The Ohio State Buckeyes coach, Ryan Day, has dealt with many things, both on and off the field, during his career. One of the biggest things that the coach has had to deal with in his life was the suicide of his father.

On Tuesday, Day spoke with Ohio-based sports reporter Adam King about what happened to him and what he is going to do to help raise awareness of mental health issues.

"When people hear mental health and it first happened to me when I told the story about my dad was it got heavy," Day said. "But that's all the way down the river. Let's talk about getting to the point where if there's something that needs to be addressed, it's treated the right way. "

In January 1988, Ryan Day's father, Ray, committed suicide. Ryan was only nine years old at that time.

Ever since becoming the Buckeyes' coach, Day has spoken publicly about this event. One notable example of this was during an interview he had with Fox Sports in 2021. During the interview, Day spoke vividly about his memories and feelings of that day.

"It was a January day, and it just kind of happened." Day said (Timestamp: 1:41). "It was shock, I just remember the shock of people's faces. It was one of those moments that you'll obviously won't forget."

The moment has been key in shaping his mentality and approach to mental health issues. However, as said during his recent interview with King, he does believe that mental health should be something that people focus on every day of their lives, and not only in crisis in which it will be negatively affected.

Ryan Day on resilience

Ryan Day is known for his strong focus on mental health awareness and has been able to implement these into his coaching practices. During the interview with Andy King on Tuesday, he spoke about how this approach helps build resilience, especially in the sporting environment.

"We had to come out the back end of it, but that’s just life," Day said. "The more that we can talk about this resilience, I feel like the more that we all understand it, the more we can battle this thing.”

By understanding one's emotions and how they impact the on-field performances of a player and the team, Day and the Buckeyes can get a more comprehensive picture of how his team is doing that is more than just "how many yards did you catch for." This approach, alongside building resilience, helps strengthen the team long-term.

Day reaped the rewards of this mindset last season when he led his Buckeyes to a national championship, something that he would want to do again.