COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State Buckeyes head football coach Ryan Day has earned the school's first Big Ten Coach of the Year award since 1979.
On Tuesday, Day was named the Dave McClain Coach of the Year Award as selected by the conference media. In his first season, Day has led the No. 1 ranked Buckeyes to a 12-0 record and a berth in the Big Ten Championship this weekend.
Ohio State’s prior Big Ten coaches of the year are Woody Hayes (1973 and 1975) and Earle Bruce (1979). Like Day, Bruce also won the award in his first season, and led the Buckeyes to a perfect regular season and a No. 1 ranking before losing to USC in the Rose Bowl by one point.
P.J. Fleck was named as the Hayes-Schembechler Coach of the Year by the conference coaches. It is the fifth time in 19 years two coaches split the coach of the year honors.
Along with Day, defensive end Chase Young was named as the Big Ten Conference's Nagurski-Woodson Defensive Player of the Year. Along with the top overall defensive award, Young was also named the Smith-Brown Defensive Lineman of the Year as well as first-team honors by the coaches and the media.
Joining him on the coaches-first team includes linebacker Malik Harrison, safety Jordan Fuller, and cornerback Jeff Okudah. Additionally, cornerback Damon Arnette was named to the coaches second team and defensive tackle Davon Hamilton and cornerback Shaun Wade landed on the third team.
The media first team included Young, Fuller and Okudah, Harrison and Arnette on the second team and Hamilton and Wade on the third team. Kicker Blake Haubeil also earned third-team honors from both the coaches and the media.
The Big Ten will announce its offensive awards tomorrow, including the Graham-George Offensive Player of the Year. Young, quarterback Justin Fields, and running back J.K. Dobbins are also up for the Big Ten MVP award (known as the Chicago Tribune Silver Football) that will be announced on Friday.
