"That was a special moment": Ryan Day on how he felt after seeing his family post national championship win

After winning it all, Ryan Day got to embrace his family. The Ohio State's coach to the College Football Playoff national championship was a rollercoaster ride.

That strengthened his Buckeyes team and, maybe more importantly, those closest to Day.

"That was a special moment, you know, something that I'll always remember," Ryan Day said Friday on "The Dan Patrick Show." "Just the fact that you could look your family and your wife in the eyes and say, 'Hey, we did this thing together,' And they did. They were a big part of it.

"We know where we were about a month and a half ago and where we are right now, and it was pure joy."

Day was subjected to death threats and a flurry of negativity after an upset loss at home to Michigan on Nov. 30. It was the coach's fourth straight defeat to Ohio State's bitter rival as his family dealt with its aftermath with a lot of negativity (5:15).

"It's very disappointing to me what some people are capable of, but you look at the news and you look at our society as a whole," Day's wife, Nina, told the Columbus Dispatch.

"People are very mean. They're very negative. They're nasty. I'm not sahing everybody is, but there's definitely a percentage of people that are just ruthless in their hate."

Part of what made Day's post-game meeting with his family so special was what he had to do to earn it. Nina Day said that she had thought of leaving Columbus with their children but ended up choosing to stay put.

"I think he, at times, second-guessed his decision to get into this and be in the spotlight that we're in," Nina Day said. "He felt responsible and just felt bad that he had put us in this position. He promised us he'd get us out of it."

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How Ryan Day rebounded after the low point

Ryan Day and the Buckeyes' first time out after the disappointing rivalry loss — and the ugly scene after Michigan tried planting its flag at midfield — was at home to Tennessee. Volunteers fans made up a good portion of Ohio Stadium during the first-round College Football Playoff matchup.

Ryan Day and the Buckeyes then trounced Big 10 champion Oregon in the Rose Bowl quarterfinal, staking themselves to a 34-0 lead and never being threatened. The same couldn't be said for Ohio State's semifinal meeting with Texas, though, as it had to pull away late after the Longhorns made a push.

Against Notre Dame in Atlanta, Day and the Buckeyes won by just one score.