Former SEAL shared advice with Ohio State football team during Buckeyes' national title run, Ryan Day says
At the request of Ryan Day, a former Navy SEAL, who also has played in the NFL, gave the Ohio State football team some leadership tips during their College Football Playoff run.
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day entered this past season under considerable pressure. The criticism of Day ramped up after the Buckeyes once again failed to defeat their top rival, the Michigan Wolverines, in late November.
Day ultimately sent a strong message to the doubters as he guided Ohio State to the College Football Playoff National Championship. During a recent appearance on the "The Triple Option" podcast, Day credited the Navy SEALs for providing the Buckeyes with some added motivation during their run to the national title.
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Clint Bruce, who played in the NFL before and is a former Navy SEAL, stepped in and shared some words of wisdom about leadership with the football team.
"He's been really good for me in the process of understanding what it means to be a leader," Day said. "The soldiers are doing all the fighting. It's your job as a head coach, leader and captain to look along the horizon and figure out what's coming next. There are so many parallels between the military and coaching. He and I would share a lot of conversations."
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Bruce graduated from the Naval Academy and had stints in the league with the Baltimore Ravens and New Orleans Saints. He is currently a motivational speaker. He delivered an "unbelievable talk" to the Buckeyes before their playoff semifinal game against the Texas Longhorns in January.
"We played down in Dallas, and just by chance, the fort he is stationed at was like five minutes from our hotel," Day said. "He just came over and gave our team an unbelievable talk. He talked about how when the SEALs go to a hot spot in Afghanistan or different places, they set up shop, take a few days to get regulated with the area, then they create a storm, wreck and then leave. That was what we were doing. It was really cool. I'm just trying to find as many people who are in the top 1% of the top 1% as possible and put them in my life as possible."
Day credited Bruce for his contribution to the program's culture but said the players should receive the majority of the credit for what they built.
"The expectation comes from the players. We create a leadership committee that we vote on before spring ball, and then we re-vote on after spring ball. We write the expectations up on the board," he said.
This month, Day was rewarded with a contract extension that will tie him to the football program through the 2031 season. Day also became the second-highest paid coach in college football, only trailing Georgia's Kirby Smart.
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