The 2026 college football season has been chaotic and unpredictable at every turn. Utah and UCLA are the last two unbeaten teams? Are you kidding? No one could have dreamed up the scenarios created by this wild ride. Consider this: Ohio State and Michigan fans both want their coaches to be fired, and both teams look legitimately below average in November. Ryan Day and Kyle Whittingham are facing firestorms in their respective localities. Which one will be fired first?
Ryan Day at Ohio State
Ryan Day is 6-5 in his last 11 games at Ohio State. That's a mind-blowing fact, but it is a fact. Ohio State won't tolerate too much more of this, and it shouldn't. The standard set by this program is so high that Day has to at least come close. He has in the past, but the wheels
are falling off right now in Columbus.
Kyle Whittingham at Michigan
The complete absence of any offense at Michigan is staggering. Get this: Michigan has been shut out in the first half of three straight home games this season. Michigan was shut out in the first half of a home game only three times in the previous 24 seasons, encompassing 166 home games from 2002 through 2025. This year's UM offense is historically awful.
Ohio State defense
Ohio State's defense was terrific last season, with multiple top-12 first-round NFL draft picks. Without those studs this season, Matt Patricia looks lost. Ohio State just gave up 41 points to Dylan Raiola and Oregon. Know which other team gave up 41 at home to Oregon this year? Lincoln Riley's USC Trojans. Yep, it's that bad on defense.
More than a Julian Sayin problem
Luke Fahey is not a great quarterback, and he is doing things to cause Ohio State to lose, but he's not the No. 1 problem. The defense is cratering. Bad snaps aren't Fahey's fault. Deficient line play isn't Fahey's fault. The real problem with Ohio State is that it's more than just one thing, one player, one position. The Buckeyes are bad everywhere.
Tavien St. Clair
Part of the problem for Ryan Day is his quarterback room. Not being able to develop Tavien St. Clair to the point that the coaching staff feels comfortable putting him in games is a searing indictment of Day and Arthur Smith.
Speaking of which...
Arthur Smith
Ryan Day's Arthur Smith experiment looks like a bust. More broadly, Ryan Day's choices of NFL coordinators on both sides of the ball don't look very enlightened. Arthur Smith will definitely not coach at Ohio State in 2027. Matt Patricia is more of an open question.
Ohio State roster construction
Ryan Day's biggest failure: roster construction. The Buckeyes just don't have the high-end talent they possessed last year, with the sole exception of Jeremiah Smith. Their defense is so much more pedestrian. They can't get a quality backup quarterback. Ohio State should not struggle to have pieces in place, and yet Ryan Day has plainly flopped in fielding a good, deep roster. That should never be a question for this program.
Kyle Whittingham motivation level
It always felt odd that Kyle Whittingham wanted to coach at Michigan instead of just retiring. He talked at Utah about wanting to spend more time with his family. The move to Michigan was a surprising plot twist for him and for those who covered Utah in the Pac-12 over the years. Michigan fans who think Whittingham has nothing left in the tank are making a reasonable, if debatable, conclusion.
Kyle Whittingham at Utah
For those who didn't follow Whittingham closely at Utah, here's the lowdown: He fielded very good defenses but got caught without a good quarterback for years in Salt Lake City until Cam Rising came along and got him over the hump. What you're seeing this year at Michigan is not wildly out of step with a lot of what happened to Whitt at Utah.
Michigan defense
The Michigan defense has been doing its job. It's not as though Kyle Whittingham has no clue about the program as a whole; he has no clue about the offense. It's not a full-on disaster; it's an offensive disaster. The defense is fine. Michigan power brokers don't need to question Whittingham about his defense, only the plan for his offense. If the plan is not convincing, Whittingham has to be pushed out now, after just one season.
Ryan Day's national championship
Ryan Day's national title at Ohio State probably buys him the 2027 season. It's not as though he was a complete bum before this season. He made the playoff quarterfinals last season and was the No. 2 seed in said playoff. However, if 2027 is anything like 2026, Ryan Day will not coach at Ohio State in 2028.
Kyle Whittingham, his offensive coordinator, and the transfer portal
Kyle Whittingham has to fire offensive coordinator Jason Beck. He has to get a high-quality quarterback in the transfer portal. If the powers that be at Michigan don't get convincing answers from Whittingham on these two fronts, they have to eat the buyout and fire Whitt after the Ohio State game. If, however, Whittingham admits defeat and knows he has to shake things up both on staff and in the portal, then he can go forward into 2027 ... but like Ryan Day, if 2027 is like 2026, he'll be gone before 2028 arrives.
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This article originally appeared on College Sports Wire: Who gets fired first: Ryan Day or Kyle Whittingham?
