WATCH: Ohio State head coach Ryan Day trolls Nick Saban at NFL draft
There were plenty of moments to soak in during the first round of the NFL draft, but Ryan Day having fun at the expense of Nick Saban took the cake.
Former Alabama coach Nick Saban is easily the best college football coach the world has ever seen. Ohio State head coach Ryan Day is on the shortlist of the best coaches in the game today, so it was no wonder we had a fun moment with the two coaches sitting on the set of College GameDay just before the 2026 NFL draft , in which four Buckeyes went within the first 11 picks. One of those players was safety Caleb Downs , a player who started out under Saban in Tuscaloosa before he transferred to Columbus under Day for his last two years, one that included a College Football Playoff national championship in 2024.
In a funny moment, Day was asked what Downs meant to Ohio State by former OSU quarterback and GameDay analyst Kirk Herbstreit, and he began by trolling Saban just a little bit in good fun. "I think the first thing that surprised me, when Caleb came to Ohio State, was that he was a mess," Day told the ESPN crew. "I don't know what they were doing at Alabama .
" The guys on the desk -- even Michigan homer Desmond Howard got a laugh out of it, and even Saban smiled and quipped that he wasn't surprised. Of course, it was all a joke, and Day went on to praise the player Downs was after, coming to Ohio State from Alabama. You can see the entire exchange here thanks to the College GameDay "X" account.
. @KirkHerbstreit : "How would you try to quantify what [Caleb Downs] meant? " Ryan Day: "I think the first thing that surprised me, when Caleb came to Ohio State was that he was a mess.