Mailbox: Ryan Day is a better coach than Woody Hayes ... unless he loses to Michigan again

Have more comments, questions? Reach out to me at bwhite1@dispatch.com

On Ryan Day and Ohio State football

To the editor: At the risk of being run out of my palatial man cave, it is time to state the obvious: Ryan Day is a better coach than Saint Woody was. Three things make coach Day superior to coach Hayes.

1. Day is a risk taker and less conservative than Woody. Witness the failure of coach Day to go for a field goal at the close of the half at the recent Penn State game. Day tried to squeeze in one more play and the clock ran out, thus denying a field goal try by the Bucks and an emotional lift going into halftime. Old Woody Hayes would've kicked the field goal and not left points on the field. Day went against the grain but showed the ultimate confidence in his players.

2. Day knew how to coach an air game with just enough runs thrown in to balance the attack. Of course, Hayes knew three things could happen if you threw the football and that two of them were bad.

3. Day knows how to pat his players on the back with compliments and is aware of the mental health of his players.  Hayes was the Bobby Knight of football. While Hayes didn't fling chairs, he couldn't grab an OSU face mask quickly enough if he felt the Buckeye lacked appropriate concentration or effort. And, of course, Woody decided to accost the Clemson player running down the sidelines.

Hayes was a great coach in his era but his personality, coaching style and inflexibility were limiting whereas Day adapts to the times and his players. Day is definitely a superior coach than Hayes, that is, unless he loses to the team up north again this year. Then Day is the worst coach since John Cooper.

Michael N. Oser, Columbus

To Michael: If John Cooper and his 111-43-4 OSU record is the low bar, that's a pretty good line of coaching hires.

To Mr. White: I would like to know why coach Day does not use the play-action game. It seems to me that when C.J. Stroud is under center the defense knows it is going to be a run. Why not use a play-fake action type call and make the defense think before reacting. This would help both the running and passing game.

Fausto J Garofalo Jr, Columbus, Ohio

To Fausto: When questioned this week, Day took exception to the reports, citing data, that his run game has become predictable. We'll see going forward.

To Brian: I'm concerned about the lack of postgame comments over OSU's questionable judgment and concentration on key plays vs. Penn State. It's as though the fourth-quarter turnaround − a stampede of Buckeye scoring − clouded the memory of a two-quarter "what was that?" performance. Without Marvin Harrison's stellar catches, OSU would have lost to (what turned out to be) an imposing housecat. Needless embarrassment. Penn State has now given up 85 points in its two losses.

Consider the 53-yard field goal attempt on fourth-and-6. Why not try a pass to make a first down (or a TD)? The ball remained at the 35-yard line regardless of either try failing. And seconds before the half, a potential field goal situation from the 8-yard line to take the lead blew up, and, instead, OSU left the field with only frustration. Add the false starts on two two-point conversion attempts and there's a loss of 5 or possibly more points, not to mention more separation, securing the lead in a much tighter match.

Would someone, for once (coach preferably), at least admit, "We looked pretty bad for much of the game"?

Larry Cheek, Dublin

To Larry: I agree that the offense struggled at times in the first half, but I also think that if Harrison didn't make those stellar catches someone else would have as long as Stroud was still playing. It just never felt like Penn State was going to pull the upset.

To the editor: While I wasn’t at the game (and am darn glad I wasn’t), some friends who were there described to me the booing of the Script Ohio by the Penn State fans. That and various other incidents there as related to me indicated to me that Beaver Stadium might be the loudest stadium in the Big Ten, but also having some of the worst sportsmanship of any Big Ten school.

The Penn State fans show to me that they have a deep-seated inferiority complex dating back to the Joe Pa and Jerry Sandusky incidents back in 2011.

Larry Carr

To Brian:  Happy Birthday on Monday to Nick Saban, fittingly born on Halloween. The reason Woody Hayes was such a sweetheart of a guy must have been because he was born on Valentine's Day. And our old friend Bo Schembechler was born on April 1, no foolin'!

Dennis Singleton, Dayton

To Dennis: Others born on Halloween: John Candy, John Keats, Christopher Columbus, Fred McGriff, Michael Landon and the great Vanilla Ice. Others born on Valentine's Day: Florence Henderson, Jim Kelly, Gregory Hines, Jack Benny. Others born on April Fool's: Rachel Maddow, Lon Chaney, Debbie Reynolds. Famous people born on my birthday: Kanye West, Eddie Gaedel, Joan Rivers, Nancy Sinatra, Barbara Bush, Jerry Stiller, Boz Scaggs.

On Major League Baseball

To Brian: With the winning run on second in the ninth inning, Nick Castellanos' diving catch sends Game 1 of the World Series into extra innings. Very exciting, except that it is midnight in Philadelphia and 11 p.m. in Houston. The 10th inning, which produced all of one run, took another 38 minutes. Children who could become baseball fans have gone to bed long ago, not that they'd be interested in seeing four hours of baseball played at a snail's pace anyway. Baseball used to be about 200 pitches per game over two hours.  Now it's about 300 and with fewer balls put in play. Do you think baseball will ever wise up?

Dennis Singleton, Dayton

To Dennis: Makes the youth league rule of "no new inning after two hours" pretty nice, eh?

More from The Mailbox

Kudos to the performance at the Ohio State-Iowa football game ... by the bands

List of best Ohio State football home games should include these crushing losses

Ryan Day, Ohio State football not preparing properly in case of CJ Stroud injury

'Aloof' Ohio State football players need to stop ignoring their adoring fans

Hating Ohio State football black uniforms; and why can't I watch halftime show?

Why don't all Ohio State football fans scream like crazy? Did refs cheat Crew?

Preview of Ohio State-Arkansas State game was 'arrogant'; plus advice on TV sound

What did they say? Readers are upset about the OSU-Notre Dame telecast

Ohio State football's 'greed' put to music; and pity Eddie George's son

Deshaun Watson may never be a player fans can love

Get more Ohio State football news by listening to our podcasts

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ryan Day is better Ohio State football coach than Woody Hayes: Letters