As outlined previously on the site, Saturday's Ohio State-Michigan game is one of a kind. It's the most heated in the history of the rivalry and, due to forces both internal and external, it's quite likely we'll never see a regular season game this meaningful ever again.
The relationship -- or lack thereof -- between the head coaches is a large reason why.
Ohio State and Michigan fans and coaches have disliked each other for more than a century now, but flowing within this river of disdain has been a mutual respect between the head coaches. That extended even to Jim Harbaugh and Urban Meyer, but ended under Day.
The story begins, as so many do these days, during covid. On a Big Ten coaches conference call, Harbaugh accused Day of breaking rules (irony!) around when coaches were allowed to be around players as part of the NCAA's pandemic restrictions. (Harbaugh served a 3-game suspension to open the season as part of the NCAA's investigation of Michigan breaking covid recruiting rules.)
“How about I worry about my team and you worry about yours?” Day reportedly shot back. When recounting the exchange to his players the next day, Day then told the Buckeyes they were going to "hang 100" on Michigan.
The 2020 Ohio State-Michigan game did not happen, and many believe Harbaugh would've been fired if it had. Michigan went 2-4 that season, and afterward he made a number of staff changes and took a major pay cut.
Those changes -- some legal, some not -- worked.
After Michigan (illicitly) ended its 8-game rivalry losing streak in 2021, Harbaugh said this of Day: “Sometimes people that are standing on third base think they hit a triple, but they didn't."
“It was definitely a counterpunch by me, to the comment that they were going to hang 100 on us, etcetera. Kind of like Sugar Ray Robinson,” told a local radio station last November.
And that brings us to this week. Harbaugh will miss The Game, the sixth of 12 he'll serve on suspension this season, but he's still prepared as usual heading into the clash of the AP's No. 2 (Ohio State) and No. 3 (Michigan) teams.
At his weekly press conference, Harbaugh was asked if he respects Day.
"It's all about our preparation for Ohio," he said after a long pause. "The days, the minutes, the hours, everything leading up to this game. That's where our focus is. Preparing ourselves -- planning, practice and then execute. Anything else is irrelevant."
Jim Harbaugh was asked about his level of respect for Ryan Day and the Ohio State coaching staff: pic.twitter.com/JnJHW0aS5Y
— Clayton Sayfie (@CSayf23) November 20, 2023
Asked the same question Tuesday, Day responded, "We've just stayed away from all the distractions and focused on our team."
So, that's a firm no from both men.
I'd say I'm looking forward to the post-game handshake, but we won't get one. The game leading up to the handshake that won't happen should be pretty good, though.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.