Did Ohio State head coach Ryan Day create the storm of sign stealing allegations around Michigan?
By now, every college football fan is aware of the constantly developing Michigan scandal, in which now-fired Wolverines staffer Connor Stalions is accused of creating a network of scouts to illegally attend games of future Michigan opponents to record and subsequently decode signs.
The most recent possible development is an interesting one, amid prevalent rumors that Day was a major whistleblower in the case. Day was asked point-blank by a reporter if he, or anyone close to himself or the Ohio State program, "turned Michigan in," and he provided "no comment" at the time.
Ryan Day was asked if he or someone close to him turned Michigan in.
Day said "no comments right now."
Would have been real easy to say NO. Weird.
?: @BuckeyeHuddle pic.twitter.com/HiVhAPzMJ3
— Trevor Woods (@WoodsFootball) November 6, 2023
Of course, due process states that Day is innocent until proven guilty — although such courtesy has hardly been afforded to Michigan. The other Big Ten member institutions have called for an immediate suspension of head coach Jim Harbaugh before the NCAA investigation concludes, or even starts in earnest. However, it's hard not to imagine that if Day truly knew himself to be free from involvement in this situation, he might have simply answered "no" to the reporter's question.
Further complicating the situation is the belief in some circles that the "outside investigative firm" that has been working on the Michigan sign-stealing case is directly linked to Day himself. Christopher Day, the brother of the Buckeyes head coach, runs an investigation company called 4th and 1 Investigations and Protective Agency.
Chris Day formerly worked as a member of the Drug Enforcement Administration, and his law enforcement background would surely give him the ability to investigate these allegations in a way that few college coaches would be able to leverage.
Did Day acquire evidence about Michigan's wrongdoings through unsavory means or illegitimate channels? Did he only catch Michigan stealing signs while his own program was looking somewhere they weren't supposed to? And, perhaps most importantly, does it even matter to the NCAA or Big Ten how the evidence was discovered as long as it turns out to be true?
Some of these questions should be answered in the coming weeks and months, but some of the details in these incredibly complex and messy proceedings might never come to light. One thing is for sure: With both the Buckeyes and Wolverines still undefeated, and off-field tensions running higher than ever, The Game between these two teams in late November will be more intense than ever.
