Earlier this offseason, Dan Lanning and Ryan Day took their budding rivalry to the golf course. They played in a Nike event, where the Ohio State coach surprised with his ability to hit off the tee.
During an appearance on Big Ten Network on Wednesday, Ashley Adamson started to ask Lanning about some rounds of golf he played. As she did, he made a quick joke about whether coaches are “allowed” to discuss how they played – subtly alluding to the conversation around Hugh Freeze at Auburn.
“I don’t think you’re allowed to talk about them,” Lanning said of his rounds of golf, with a smile.
But when asked whether he or Day were the better player, Lanning said neither one played well enough to brag about, necessarily. That said, he said Day impressed with his driver, though the Oregon coach may have snuck out a victory on their final day.
“Ryan can hit the ball,” Lanning said. “He drives it further. I may have beat him the last day. Neither one of us are good. Nothing to write home to mom about, but he can hit it. He can bomb a couple of them down the fairway.”
Lanning and Day also appear to have a budding rivalry on the field. The two coaches faced off twice last year – once in October and again in the Rose Bowl during the College Football Playoff. Oregon got the victory the first time around, holding off Ohio State 32-31 in a thriller at Autzen Stadium.
The rematch then took place on the big stage in the new-look CFP, and the Buckeyes were victorious in that one. They dominated en route to a 41-21 win as part of their run to the program’s first national title under Day’s leadership.
As for whether that game provides motivation for 2025, Dan Lanning said there was plenty to learn from that loss. However, he also praised Ohio State’s accomplishments and said his focus remains on the task at hand this year.
“I think every coach probably feels this way, but we always remember the losses over the wins,” Lanning said from the podium. “I think there’s a lot you can learn from that. It doesn’t take away from what we were able to accomplish, but we lost a great team. Coach Day did an unbelievable job last year of having his team in position to have success there. There’s some things I think I could have done better at the end.
“I don’t think we played our best football. That being said, we did go undefeated in the conference and won the Big Ten Championship in our first year. That said, double down. Focus on our process. What do we have to continue to improve? There’s always learning lessons, but it doesn’t necessarily impact the future.”
