Coming off a national title and just recently putting a bow on a historic draft class, Ryan Day and the Buckeyes are heading into uncharted waters in a lot of ways as they break in two new coordinators with the biggest target on their back that any college football team will face while still trying to get the proverbial "monkey off their back" looking to beat rival Michigan for the first time since November 2021.
To shed some light on what both last season was like for the defending national champs, as well as what the off season has looked like up until this point, Day joined Josh Pate for his Pate State Speaker series.
During that conversation, Day shared an interesting comparison when asked about at what point he knew it was going to be a long day for the Ducks and the Vols with the level the Buckeyes were playing at late in the season.
Day shares there were signs in each of those games, which ended in blowouts by scores of 42-17 (vs the Vols) and 41-21 (against the Ducks), but during the 10-day period leading up to their Rose Bowl game against Oregon Day and the staff brought former Navy Seal Clint Bruce in to talk to the team.
Bruce shared with the Buckeyes that during a hostage rescue situation, when Seals walk into a room, one person will go right, the other left. One person will go up, and the next will go down. They all work together both harmoniously and effortlessly in trusting their training.
"He was explaining that when things are all in motion, and everyone is moving in the right spots, and everything is going together just right, I would feel bad for the enemy," Day shared, recalling Bruce's message to the team.
There was a point in that Rose Bowl game, which served as a rematch of their close loss to the Ducks earlier in the season, where Day says he started to feel that way.
"Everything was just right. Everything was moving just right, and you could feel that synergy as a team in your preparation and your walk throughs and the way we traveled and the way the guys handled the media. Then, as we get on the field, you just kind of feel that confidence. We were executing on offense and playing well on defense and you could just kind of see that happening together."
Hear that answer, and more insight from Day, in the clip.