Presser Bullets: Ryan Day and Nick Saban offer final thoughts on the national championship clash

For the last time before their shows clashed in the title game on Monday night, Ryan Day and Nick Saban met with the media to exchange praise about each other’s shows.

A detailed summary of what they said:

Ryan Day

• Day calls Saban “one of the greatest coaches in college football history” and that the Buckeyes are excited about the “big challenge” of playing Alabama.

• He says “it is not the way we planned it”, but that they are grateful and excited for the chance to win a national championship.

• Day called it “certainly a strange way to get here”, after the path the Buckeyes took to get to the national title game.

• Day says Ohio’s 2017 class “will be considered one of the best groups” of all time on the program. He said that many of the guys in the 2018 class did a good job of making an effort to get on the field early and that is part of what makes these players special.

• Day: “Nobody talks about reaching the national championship, we talk about winning a national championship.”

• He said that “in the final analysis, this is the ultimate goal and that is where the whole focus is now.”

• Just getting to that point can be considered a source of pride, but Day says that if you start to be happy just by being in the game “it becomes a distraction … We have a very good opponent to prepare for this. Thinking about it . ”

• Day said that “it ultimately depends on who can perform and do their job”. It’s all about preparation and execution, he says.

• Sean McDonnell was a big influence on Day as a coach and now his son is on Day’s team at Ohio State: “It’s a small coaching world.”

• Day says Alabama is “well trained” and “very talented at the rear”.

• He said “you never know how this game is going to play out” and that Alabama “is really talented and the cleanest in attack I’ve ever seen”.

• Day says Justin Fields “had a great week of practice”. He said that Fields’ level of preparation for the Clemson game was impressive and that Fields felt very good entering that game after the week of preparation he did. He says it was a similar week of preparation for the national championship game.

• Day was impressed by Najee Harris: “He’s a complete player. Very versatile. Perhaps the most versatile guy we’ve seen all year.”

• Day says the state of Ohio adjusts its schemes to the skills of the players they bring to the program: “The art of coaching college football is to adjust your scheme to use the people you have at the time.”

Nick Saban

• As part of an opening statement, Saban said Alabama is excited to have a chance to compete with a program like the state of Ohio. He said he was impressed with how Day conducts his program.

• Saban said Alabama defender Malachi Moore is “very questionable” for the national championship game after losing the national championship to injury, and striker LaBryan Ray is “more likely”.

• Saban and Day were asked if they had any “superstition” about strategies for dealing with the coin’s toss and each replied succinctly no.

• Jaylen Waddle “has been able to practice” a little bit, Saban said, and Saban said that Waddle is “a playing time decision” and that they will know whether or not he can play closer to the kickoff.

• Saban says Steve Sarkisian did “an excellent job” in balancing the tasks between preparing for this game and preparing to take over as head coach in Texas: “I think our technical team did an excellent job in working with our players. ”

• Saban says that playing a game like this can be a great recruitment incentive: “Our program is designed to try to create value and succeed later in life. … Certainly, a game like this allows you to be the center of attention for now and possibly beyond. ”

• Saban calls Trey Sermon “a very, very good player” and Ohio’s “very good scheme” helps Buckeyes maintain a good balance between the running and passing game. He says Sermon “took advantage” of the state of Ohio, putting him in a good position to make plays.

• Saban told his players ahead of the year that those who adjust this season will be the most successful, and he believes that has sounded true.