Ohio State University head coach Ryan Day has gained a lot of prominence for helping them dominate the NCAA Division I Subdivision over the last five years. Since taking over the team in 2018, Day has gained a bright reputation for his coaching skills and also a weird following for his appearance and his beard in particular.
The 44-year-old coach has recently been in the news for recently calling out NFL legend Lou Holtz after his side’s thrilling win over Notre Dame.
After Holtz questioned the toughness of his team, Day slammed him and said: “Physicality across the board. Guts. I’d like to know where Lou Holtz is right now. What he said about our team … I cannot believe. This is a tough team right here. “
Amid his clear meltdown over some criticism from an NFL legend, fans have again started a debate over his overwhelmingly striking beard. The biggest question that many seem to have is that if that beard colour is even real or not.
A debate appears to have been created about the authenticity of his facial hair and his grooming habits. A lot of NCAA fans believe that the loudmouth American coach’s striking beard is not exactly natural but one that he works on to make it look that way.
For those unknowing of the identity and reputation of Ryan Day, he is a coach in the NCAA Division for over a decade. He had a relatively under-the-radar playing career, only playing three years for the New Hampshire Wildcats football team from 1998-2001. He was a former quarter-back/linebacker and set four records for the UNH – including that for most touchdowns and completion percentage.
He has been Ohio State Buckeye’s head coach since 2019 and had management positions for NFL sides like the Philadelphia Eagles and the San Francisco 49ers after that. He helped them win both the Rose Bowl and Super Bowl trophies in 2021.
His side has started this season well, winning all four of their overall games. However, rather than thoughts on his achievements, a lot of chatter has been made about Day’s extremely dark beard that he has been donning through this season.
In fact, the speculation over the authenticity in his beard has been a thing since 2021. A few years ago, fans in NCAA Division fan forums started to talk about the weirdly black colour of his facial hair. Some were fully convinced that Day uses a dye to make his beard much darker than it really is.
What did Ryan Day once say about his beard?
The 44-year-old has a full chin beard – boasting a goatee look with a much shorter beard style around his throat area. The facial hair is strikingly pitch black and not something that one would accept from a Caucasian male.
Weirdly, in the 2021 season, Day had actually complained about his heard and indicated his superstition at not being able to coach with a beard during the main season. He had said ahead of their opening game in August 2021: “It has to go in the next 24 hours.”
“I’m not going to coach with a beard. I’m too superstitious. I’d like to. I thought long and hard about it. My wife (Christina) and I had a conversation about it. I’m not sure it had a chance especially starting with a conference game. The beard has to go.”
His players don’t seem that bothered about his absurd facial style at all. The Buckeyes’ defensive end Zach Harrison had said: “He just needs to get it lined up a little bit, and he’ll be all right. Honestly, I don’t pay too much attention to Coach Day’s beard. I’m too focused on growing mine. Don’t laugh. It’s getting there. It’s just a process.”
Fast-forward two years since his comments on not donning a beard during the main season and Day has done just that this time around. He appears to have dropped that past ‘superstition’ and is ready to show the public his glaring appearance with it.
Does Ryan Day dye his beard?
The weird thing is that he seems to have been sticking to the same facial hairstyle over the last few seasons as the Ohio Buckeyes’ coach. There have been very few changes to the general style and the coach might even consider this as a lucky charm for his success over the recent campaigns.
Day has, although, occasionally given a sneak-peek at his ‘natural’ look and even donned a salt and pepper facial hairstyle – where multiple white hairs on his face were visible.
This is why many believe that Day might be using Just for Men’s beard dye to keep such a shiny look to his hair. The Just for Men product is an easy gel-like substance that can be applied onto one’s beard with the help of a brush and promises to keep your beard shining for a long time.
Hi everyone, I’m Ohio State football coach Ryan Day. And I’m here today to talk to you about what Just For Men can do for your beard. pic.twitter.com/ZiyYq55fMh
There are some fans who are (humorously) speculating that he might be using plain old shoe polish to keep a jet-black appearance to his beard. This is because the facial hair is so strikingly black and similar to how shiny your black shoe would come out as if you apply enough polish onto them.
Why does Ryan Day always look like he has shoe polish in his beard?
Of course, Day has never really officially confirmed anything about his grooming habits or any indication of how he keeps his beard shining like that. The most logical explanation to it would be that he applies dye, probably before every matchday, to ensure that he comes off as glowing when in front of the camera.
Fans see similarities in Ryan Day with celebrities
While the 44-year-old coach might be quite proud of his facial hair, it’s safe to say that a lot of fans are not. A large section of Football fans in the USA believe that he is donning a very fake beard style and giving competition to some other ridiculous facial hairstyles among prominent celebrities.
Some believe that Day might’ve been inspired to keep his shiny black goatee beard style by Steven Seagal’s character in Under Siege ‘Casey Ryback’. Seagal gained a lot of prominence by donning this kind of glowing, pitch-black goatee and a lot of fans accused him of dying his beard as well.
Ryan Day still has the worst dye job on his beard, he’s starting to give Casey Ryback a run for his money. pic.twitter.com/bQKbdSmhW8
Fans have even linked his current appearance to be similar to one that American country music singer Garth Brooks’ debuted in the music video for his hit 1991 single ‘The Thunder Rolls’. Brooks had a much bigger facial hairline in the video, but he also seemingly dyed his beard (or probably wore a fake one) in the video for that popular song.
Ryan Day and Sam Hartman out here with beard game like Garth Brooks’ abusive cheating husband character in “The Thunder Rolls” video pic.twitter.com/sQ2ZhHrP9f
Of course, it[‘s not like the Ohio State Buckeyes head coach has been keeping this bold facial hairstyle all throughout his coaching career. Indeed, Day used to mostly keep a clean shave look before he started to really gain success with the Buckeyes. He also looked way different than what he did these days. However, the 44-year-old coach has now fully embraced his pitch black beard.
In fact, the facial hair might be the luck he’s needed to keep Ohio performing well in recent years. We might never know exactly how Day keeps his facial hair so shiny. But you can probably be assured that he definitely isn’t going to change it based on public opinion.
