Ohio State head football coach Ryan Day has great admiration for Clemson’s Dabo Swinney.
Day, who is in his seventh season leading the Buckeyes, went head-to-head with Swinney’s Tigers twice in the four-team College Football Playoff, including his first season at the helm. Trevor Lawrence led Clemson to a comeback win that night, but Day and Ohio State would exact their revenge a season later, eliminating Swinney’s team in the Sugar Bowl.
It was during that first meeting in 2019 that Day really started to get to know Swinney, and over the years, the two have come to mutually respect one another. So much so that when Day was asked what head coach he’d be comfortable allowing his son to play for, he named Swinney.
“The guy that comes to mind a lot for me is Dabo,” Day said. “When we first played them in ’19 in the Fiesta Bowl, they had a great team, we had a battle. It was Justin vs. Trevor, and we had some really good players.”
Day recalled Swinney telling him he’d win at national title at Ohio State, and that prognostication came to fruition last year when the Buckeyes won it all.
“He didn’t have to do that,” Day added. “I have been around a lot of coaches that would not even take the time. They posture and their egos get in the way. I will never forget that. We’ve gone on Nike trips before, and he just spends time. Talks about his family, talks about his kids.”
Day’s son, RJ, is a three-star quarterback in the 2027 class, and he’s already visited Clemson in the past. He already holds several Power-4 offers, including Purdue, Syracuse, Boston College and Cincinnati.
With Day knowing how Swinney treats his players and the holistic approach Clemson takes, he’d have no qualms with his son deciding to be a Tiger if given the opportunity.
“You see the way he treats his players,” Day said. “We went down to visit, and he took (us) around the whole facility. Just the way he has built it down there. I could probably get into a few coaches, but he is the one that comes to mind the most of somebody that really has a great perspective on it. Great coach, but he is a great dad. And he really treats those guys in the building like they are their sons.”