Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy has never been shy about his disdain for Ohio State head coach Ryan Day, and that feud only got more personal after he lost his spot on Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff earlier this month.
Now, with the Buckeyes set to face Indiana in a top-five matchup on Saturday, Portnoy is taking more shots at Day, arguing that he’s a far worse coach than Indiana’s Curt Cignetti and wouldn’t be successful anywhere other than Columbus.
Portnoy Blames Ohio State
Earlier this month, Portnoy was removed from the Big Noon Kickoff pregame show, and he placed the blame for the move on Day and the Buckeyes.
“Ohio State and Ryan Day [complained] and moaned to the Big 10 and threatened Fox till they had no choice,” Portnoy wrote on X. “Juice wasnt worth the squeeze [and] frankly I dont blame them. Huge dollars at stake and you have Cryin Ryan throwing temper tantrums [and] making threats every few days on something I said.”
He went into more detail in an interview with Ryan Glasspiegel of Front Office Sports, saying that Fox executives were shown “a 30- to 45-minute highlight tape of me ripping Ohio State and Ryan Day” when Ohio State objected to his hiring. However, not everyone believes Portnoy’s narrative.
Ryan Day vs. Curt Cignetti
Saturday’s Big Ten showdown will feature two of the most accomplished coaches in college football, but the Barstool Sports crew sees one clearly superior to the other.
While making their picks for Saturday’s game, Barstool’s Dan “Big Cat” Katz picked Indiana, which is a 3.5-point home underdog.
“I am making a bet on Curt Cignetti versus Ryan Day. Curt Cignetti is 10 times the coach that Ryan Day is,” Big Cat said during their Weekend Preview. “Curt Cignetti’s gonna be ready to go. Ryan Day’s gonna pee down his leg if it gets tight late. I’ll take Indiana points at home. Gimme Indiana +3.5.”
“I’m not doing this as a performative thing,” he added. “I think Indiana’s got some problems that we’re all worried about, but I’m just going on, keep this game close, Cignetti versus Ryan Day.”
‘Ryan Day was born on third base’
Portnoy agreed with Big Cat’s assessment, and he took it a bit further, taking some rather personal shots at Day.
“If this game is close coming down in the fourth quarter, Cignetti is about 100x the game coach that Ryan Day is,” Portnoy said.
“Cignetti is clearly a superstar coach, and it doesn’t matter where he went. Ryan Day would be unsuccessful at any program other than Ohio State,” he continued. “He was given a cupboard full of superstars. He could never build a program. He could never do what Cignetti did.”
Portnoy went on to repeat Jim Harbaugh’s famous “born on third base” comment.
“Ryan Day was born on third base,” he said. “Like, anybody here could coach that team to 10, 11 wins.”
Ohio State and Indiana kick off at noon ET on Saturday on Fox. It seems like Portnoy will be watching closely, even if he won’t be on the network’s pregame show.
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