Jim Harbaugh jumps Ryan Day as No. 1 coach in the Big Ten in newest rankings

On Thursday, Bruce Feldman of The Athletic dropped his newest top 10 college football coaches list. Three Big Ten coaches made the cut, including two in the top-5, though a notable change has been made: Ohio State’s Ryan Day was listed below Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh. In fact, Day was ranked below Penn State’s James Franklin as well.

With Feldman’s new rankings has come a realization that many Buckeye fans have been trying to avoid: Jim Harbaugh is a much better football coach than Ryan Day, who inherited one of the top programs in the sport and has seen steady regression since.

Top 10 College Football Coaches per @BruceFeldmanCFB ?https://t.co/DgWgpdrAIZ pic.twitter.com/2ZV6IzK8os

— On3 (@On3sports) March 9, 2023

Jim Harbaugh takes No. 1 coaching spot in Big Ten

Only three coaches in the entire sport came in ahead of Jim Harbaugh in Feldman’s new rankings: Alabama’s Nick Saban, Georgia’s Kirby Smart, and Clemson’s Dabo Sweeny. Harbaugh is the first Big Ten coach listed, sitting at No. 4, and is closely followed by James Franklin of Penn State, who sits at No. 5.

Day’s resume

At No. 6 is Ryan Day, who many know as the man that was “born on third base” after inheriting one of the best-functioning programs in all of college football. In year one, Ryan Day led the Buckeyes to an incredible 13-1 season — they seemed unstoppable until some questionable calls lost them their matchup against Clemson in the CFP. A season later, during the COVID-19 year, Day had his Ohio State team back in the playoff as Big Ten champs — this time, Ohio State made the national title game but was routed by Alabama.

In 2021, everything changed as Ryan Day started to get his own guys in there. The Buckeyes finished 10-2 overall, including a blowout loss at Michigan, before winning the Rose Bowl. A season later, Ohio State again finished with an 11-2 final record after being embarrassed at home by the Michigan Wolverines.

Harbaugh has incredible two-year stretch

All Michigan football fans are familiar with Jim Harbaugh’s incredible work over the past two seasons — unlike Day’s Buckeyes, the Wolverines have been getting better the longer Harbaugh is in town. Since 2021, Michigan football has won 25 of its 28 games (19-1 Big Ten), two Big Ten titles, and has made the CFP twice in a row now. Additionally, Harbaugh has back-to-back blowout wins over Ohio State: 42-27 in 2021, and 45-23 in 2022. This impressive resume is what landed Harbaugh the top coaching spot in the Big Ten, and the fourth-best spot nationally.

James Franklin jumps Day?

Now, I will admit, it is hard to rank Franklin above Day since Ohio State is 4-0 against James Franklin during Day’s tenure. That being said, when you look at what the two have done with their programs, it becomes much more justifiable. In 2014, James Franklin took over a sanctioned Penn State football team (from the Sandusky scandal in 2011) and has since led the Nittany Lions back to prominence.

Over the past six full seasons, Penn State has seen one 9-win season, four 11-win seasons, a Big Ten title, and three New Year’s Six wins. While Franklin has his team trending up, Ryan Day has seen steady regression of the Buckeyes’ once-elite program. Now, Ohio State is looking to get back into the mix after their recent fall from grace — Ohio State has not compete for a conference title in nearly three years now.

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