Kirk Herbstreit: Criticism of Ohio State HC Ryan Day is 'comical'

ESPN analyst and former Ohio State quarterback Kirk Herbstreit had some scathing words for what he sees as a group of Buckeye fans determined to be critical of anything and everything.

Herbstreit addressed some of the criticism levied at head coach Ryan Day that has come about as a result of back-to-back losses against Michigan, as well as some perceived erosion of the school’s recruiting dominance within the Midwest. Herbstreit deemed the criticisms to be “comical” and chalked them up to a group of “15 percenters” that will always find reason to be upset with the team.

“The 15 percenters, they get mad at anything,” Herbstreit said, via David Briggs of the Toledo Blade. “That percent is going to be mad at something always. [Day] could win the Michigan game, go to the playoff and lose, and they’ll be mad about that. That group is just a bunch of jacka–es who kind of embarrass all of us as Ohio State fans. So I don’t really care, honestly, what that group thinks. But the people who matter, the logical people who actually have a brain and understand the sport, they love what Ryan Day has done. The fact that this is even a topic is almost comical.”

It’s a feisty defense from Herbstreit that probably has some element of truth to it. There will always be a group of fans who accept nothing short of a national title. Ohio State’s standards are such that they should be contending for championships on a yearly basis. To be fair to Day, that has not changed. The Buckeyes nearly beat eventual champion Georgia in the playoffs last year.

Day’s response to criticisms of recent recruiting losses was not exactly inspiring, but all will be well as long as the team keeps performing. If they continue to contend for the playoffs and can beat Michigan regularly, Day won't have much to worry about, but the critics could get more vocal otherwise.