Ryan Day will coach against his mentor for the first time on Saturday, November 14, when No. 21 Ohio State hosts Northwestern at Ohio Stadium in a matchup the Associated Press framed as a first-ever showdown between Day and Chip Kelly, the Wildcats’ offensive coordinator and the man who once coached Day himself.
The personal history runs nearly three decades deep, according to the Associated Press. Kelly was the offensive coordinator at New Hampshire when Day was his quarterback, and after graduating, Day joined New Hampshire’s staff as tight ends coach and later worked as an assistant under Kelly in the NFL with Philadelphia and San Francisco before coming to Ohio State in 2017 and becoming head coach two years later.
“He’s been a friend, a mentor, an uncle, a brother to me his whole life. I’ve never coached against him, so this will be a first, but we’re always talking and always having conversations,” Day said, in remarks reported by the Associated Press.
Kelly’s road back to Columbus runs through Ohio State’s most recent title. He joined the Buckeyes’ staff in 2024 as offensive coordinator after resigning as UCLA’s head coach, and after Ohio State won the College Football Playoff title he left for the Las Vegas Raiders, where he was fired in late November after a 2-9 start, the Associated Press reported. When Day had a staff opening after the season, Northwestern beat Ohio State to Kelly and hired him in late December, the AP reported.
Northwestern head coach David Braun acknowledged this week that the Day-Kelly connection is deeper than the usual staff crossovers, and that Kelly’s time in Columbus is something the Wildcats are aware of, according to the Associated Press. “Is there some information that Chip may have just in terms of how they’re structured because of his time there? Absolutely,” Braun said, in remarks reported by the AP, adding that Northwestern has to study what Ohio State has put on tape this year and stay objective.
The stakes on the field are just as sharp. Both teams arrive at 6-3 and on two-game losing streaks, the Associated Press reported, with Ohio State at 4-2 in the Big Ten holding slim hopes of reaching the conference title game and Northwestern at 3-3 in league play. Ohio State is trying to avoid its first three-game losing streak since 2011, while Northwestern is trying to win at Ohio Stadium for the first time since 1971 — a span of 15 games — in the Wildcats’ first trip to the Horseshoe in 10 years, according to the AP.
For Ohio State, the defensive fixes are specific. Defensive coordinator Matt Patricia’s unit allowed a combined 21 explosive plays in the losses to Southern California and Oregon, 13 of them in the 41-28 Oregon loss, and six of the explosives across the two games came on third-and-long or fourth down, the Associated Press reported. “We’ve got to do a really good job of just trying to eliminate those,” Patricia said, in remarks reported by the AP.
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on
What is confirmed, through the Associated Press, is the setting and the stakes: a noon-hour Saturday stage at Ohio Stadium (the game is listed by Ohio State’s preview coverage for Saturday, November 14), two 6-3 teams on two-game skids, and a first coaching meeting between Day and Kelly. Team-reported quarterback availability has been described differently across preview coverage this week, so NewsForce247 is not projecting either team’s starter beyond what the schools announce at game time.
The family tie deepens next year, when Day’s son RJ arrives at Northwestern after graduating from Columbus DeSales High School, having committed to the Wildcats a couple of months after Kelly was hired, the Associated Press reported. Ohio State fans following the program’s future can also read about the two top-60 basketball prospects Ohio State signed Friday for its 2027 class, and northwest Ohio’s championship Friday in Toledo’s sweep of the NCAA Great Lakes Regional cross country titles.
What happens next is Saturday’s kickoff at Ohio Stadium. A win steadies Ohio State’s late-season push and keeps its thin Big Ten title-game hopes alive; a third straight loss would be the program’s first such slide since 2011, against the coach who helped deliver its last national championship.
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