“You know what you’ve done in the past really does not affect what’s going on moving forward. Everything is out in front of us.” – Ryan Day
Mental toughness and focus are key to the players getting ready for Tennessee…and the coaches putting them into position to do what they do best instead of stubbornly pursuing other goals.
Time, it has been said, heals all wounds. But that’s not really true. Some wounds, yes. But never all wounds. Because around Ohio State, after the 2024 Michigan loss that felt like a Michigan loss times 10, no amount of time will completely heal the wound.
That inexplicable performance might scab over.
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But 13 to 10 is an indelible memory – one that will forever feel recent – for those who were on the Ohio Stadium field last Saturday. No gold pants for the seniors.
Veteran columnist Jeff Gilbert writes Ohio State football and OHSAA sports for Press Pros Magazine.com.
Sunday, however, brought new hope if they will let it. The playoff bracket means the Buckeyes have a chance – and a better chance than most of the other 11 teams – to win a national championship.
But as the Buckeyes proved against Michigan, talent isn’t enough. Coaching isn’t enough. Execution isn’t enough. This team needs to get its collective head straight and allow Michigan to be no more than a scab they ignore and don’t pick at.
The first step for the No. 8 seed Buckeyes to prepare for No. 9 Tennessee is to stop grieving. They must look forward in meeting rooms, on the practice field and in interviews. Because Michigan will be asked about. It happened Sunday afternoon when Day spoke to the media following the playoffs announcement.
“You know what you’ve done in the past really does not affect what’s going on moving forward,” Day said. “Everything is out in front of us.”
What’s behind – the missing win over Michigan and the missing Big Ten title – were clearly stated as the No. 1 goals. If No. 1 means first on the timeline, then the Buckeyes have a better chance of looking forward. If those were No. 1 in importance, that could be problematic.
“We’re fired up,” Day said. “We’re obviously excited about playing the first-ever playoff game in Ohio Stadium. Night game, 8 o’clock, it’s going to be electric.”
I have more faith in the players completely moving forward. Most of them chose Ohio State to play for national titles. The coaches want a title, but job security also lies in beating Michigan and winning the Big Ten.
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Day said all the right things Sunday. However, besides saying the right things, how do the Buckeyes truly let last Saturday’s grievous performance go?
Toughness.
Not physically. Mentally. From the head coach to the walk-ons.
The “What was going through your mind?” question is 99% of the time a terrible question. But right now, wouldn’t we like to know what’s going through the minds of coaches and players? Perhaps, Day provided a glimpse of the mindset.
“Now that we have a target, we said, ‘We’re going to flush that out,’” Day said of the Michigan loss. “The guys have a good look in their eye. They want to play.”
This team is as physically gifted as any and maybe more than any. They could have been the team that people would be calling the dominant team had they been mentally tough enough to beat Oregon and Michigan. Nobody talks about Oregon like a dominant, can’t-miss champion in waiting. They would be saying that about a 13-0 Ohio State team.
Toughness, as we’ve often heard Ryan Day talk about, is not simply who can push who around the most.
Toughness, as we’ve often heard Day talk about it and what he exclaimed in 2023 after beating Notre Dame, is not simply who can push who around the most. That’s part of it. But ultimate toughness is a mindset. Day surely knows this. It’s his job to make his players understand it.
And in different circumstances and situations, the Buckeyes – players and coaches – have lacked the necessary mental toughness.
Mental toughness means players give 100% focus and 100% effort to every task. Nothing distracts. Complete mental toughness is revealed when players always, for example, are in position to make the block or run the proper route. It’s not good enough to do your job most of the time. It must be every time.
Players will false start, drop passes, misread coverages, miss field goals. But was their effort and focus at 100%? If it was, those mistakes aren’t likely repeated. But in Ohio State’s losses, mistakes were repeated because focus wasn’t 100% on every play.
Big-picture goals – beat Michigan, win the Big 10, win the national championship – have their place. But too much emphasis creates the lack of focus required for superior mental toughness in big games. The goal in the moment must be make the play in front of me, not win the game. Because when you think “win the game,” you don’t clearly think about your job.
A divided mind can’t focus.
And that brings us to the minds of Day and his coaching staff. Day says every final decision is his, so let’s deal with his focus and put every decision on his job performance review.
The defense struggled at Oregon. Yes, the Ducks have speed, but the breakdowns were many.
After that 32-31 loss, Day and defensive coordinator Jim Knowles simplified the defense. The idea was fewer tricks, think less, play faster. And it worked. It worked against Michigan.
The defensive players, it seems, no longer struggle with lack of focus or effort because the coaches have freed their minds. And a renewed mental toughness of 100% effort and 100% focus on the job of the moment, followed those changes.
The offense is another matter. And the problem is all in the gray matter of the frontal lobe.
Day admitted this past Wednesday during his signing day press conference that the Buckeyes ran the ball too much into the line and the strength of Michigan’s defense. That wasn’t revealing anything new to those who watched as much as it was an admittance.
You have to be mentally tough enough and flexible enough to give the offense a chance to win the game with got them here.
Day, and perhaps Chip Kelly as a willing accomplice, didn’t show the focus, and thereby the mental toughness needed, to let the offense be great at what they’re good at. They kept trying to force the round peg of the running game they want to be known for into the square hole of Michigan’s defense.
Their minds, their focus, were divided between what was best and what they wanted to prove. That’s not toughness. That’s the kind of stubbornness players exhibit when they try to do things their way instead of what they are coached to do.
The coaching mantra of putting the players in the best position to be successful meant nothing. The game plan and the play calling didn’t give any credibility to the coach speak that it’s all about players making plays.
Instead, the coaching decisions reflected a coaching insistence that this team prove its toughness by outmuscling Michigan on the ground. Because, they believe, the team that runs the ball the best always wins this game. Is that true?
I am not going to spend all day looking that up. But that can’t be true. It’s a logical fallacy. That game, with all of Michigan’s offensive deficiencies, could have absolutely been won with a passing game as talented as Ohio State’s. Past results do not guarantee future performance.
The coaches thought too much about proving a point and were results-oriented. They didn’t have the mental toughness to focus on what this team does best and stick with it. This team is better through the air than it is on the ground. And stubborn efforts to prove otherwise will continue to fail.
Perhaps, the Buckeyes are just that much better than Tennessee to be able to rush for over 200 yards and control the game that way. But if they are not – and I doubt they are – the coaches must be mentally tough enough and flexible enough to give the offense a chance to win the game with got them here.
Forget the Michigan loss for now and, if you must, let it haunt you later. Just go be great at what you’re good at. Get out of your own way. And be mentally tough enough to focus on the things that win for this team and actually let the players determine the outcome.
The playoffs are in the hands of the coaches. The players are good enough. The coaches just have to believe in them enough to let them do what they do best. Then, and only then, can the Buckeyes survive a gauntlet that begins with Tennessee and Oregon.
“This would be an unbelievable accomplishment to go on a run here and go win the whole thing when you’re four games away,” Day said. “It’s real. It’s on the table as much as last week hurt. But here we are now, and so all the focus is going to go on Tennessee.”
That mental approach is necessary for the Buckeyes to make a playoff run and win the biggest prize. Day must also focus on what his players do best and be mentally tough enough to let them be that team.
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