How Ryan Day, Jim Harbaugh personal rivalry has added 'spice' to Michigan vs Ohio State

Not that it needed it, but there will be no shortage of personal animosity between head coaches in The Game come Saturday when Ohio State square off. And that’s even with one of the coaches being suspended for the game.

The simple fact is: Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh and Ohio State’s Ryan Day don’t like each other very much. And Letterman Row’sSpencer Holbrook explained to On3’s Andy Staples that the beef has added even more spice to an already zesty matchup.

“They were each asked the same exact question, in a way: Do you respect the other one? Jim Harbaugh was like, ‘We’re preparing for Ohio State.’ Well he said ‘Ohio.’ ‘We’re preparing for Ohio.’ And Ryan Day said a lot of the same things, ‘Well, it goes to the preparation. It goes to how you prepare for it every day.’ Neither one had much of an answer in the way of ‘Do you respect Jim Harbaugh?’ or ‘Do you respect Ryan Day?’ That’s adding to the new flavors of this rivalry, where these two head coaches just simply do not like each other,” Holbrook said .

The genesis of the current vitriol between Day and Harbaugh likely stems from two main events: Day reportedly saying he wanted to “hang 100” on Michigan when the teams played in 2020 (a matchup that was cancelled due to Covid, another thing some are suspect about) and Harbaugh’s “born on third base” comments following a win in 2021.

Since then, there’s been a laundry list of further fuel for the rivalry: Former Michigan offensive coordinator Josh Gattis saying Ohio State was soft after the 2021 game, then-Michigan staffer Connor Stalions apparently having worked to steal Ohio State’s signs through illegal methods, unsubstantiated reports of Ohio State diming out Michigan to the NCAA and Big Ten and countless moments of needling mixed in to fill the gaps.

“The fanbases already hate each other, but I feel like that’s been taken up about 100 notches this year,” Staples said.

Holbrook generally agreed, adding that the coaches aren’t exempt. He also noted that Harbaugh being absent from the sidelines takes things down a few notches, though Day would certainly enjoy a victory plenty over Michigan, no matter who is the coach.

“It just keeps piling up. And for Ryan Day and Jim Harbaugh — Ryan Day was asked today, ‘How do you separate the personal feelings in this rivalry?’ And Ryan Day said ‘Yeah it’s been difficult.’ So he’s even acknowledging that it’s pretty personal. And the fact that he doesn’t see Jim Harbaugh on Saturday makes it kind of lose a little bit of that luster,” Holbrook said.

And this is all before the real stakes.

“And oh by the way, they’re both 11-0. The winner’s going to the Big Ten Championship Game, the winner’s probably going to the playoff,” Staples said.