Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day was emotional after his team’s thrilling walk-off win over Notre Dame in South Bend Saturday night.
Day was angry with Lou Holtz for comments the legendary Fighting Irish head coach made a few days earlier, questioning the Buckeyes’ toughness.
Day went off on Holtz after the game, calling him out.
“Toughness. Toughness, that’s it,” Day began. “Physicality across the board. Guts. I’d like to know where Lou Holtz is right now. What he said about our team … I cannot believe. This is a tough team right here.
“We’re proud to be from Ohio. It’s always been Ohio against the world, and it’ll continue to be Ohio against the world. But I’ll tell you what, I love those kids, and we’ve got a tough team.”
ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum thought that Holtz had a right to his opinion.
“I’m sure there are plenty of Lou Holtz jokes going around today,” Finebaum said. “But I happened to be around Lou about a year ago… at 86 or 87, whatever he is, still very sharp and amazing guy, so I’m glad Lou has gotten a curtain call. I doubt Lou really cares. He said what he said because that’s who he is.”
Finebaum also thought that Day might have been trying to have a “moment” with Holtz’s comments.
“I think Ryan Day had a great moment,” Finebaum continued. “Especially versus the other coach who made a basic elementary coaching mistake at the end of the game and the cost of that is incalculable.”
Holtz received more backlash about his comments than Day, which may explain why Finebaum came to his defense.
[SI.com]