COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State coach Ryan Day leans back into the leather couch in his office, days away from the season-opening showdown against top-ranked Texas.
Behind him, the Rose and Cotton Bowl trophies from last year's playoff run gleam on a shelf. Across the room, a black-and-white photograph captures Jeremiah Smith's game-clinching grab against Notre Dame -- the play that sealed the Buckeyes' first national championship in a decade.
That thrilling victory vaulted Day into exclusive company: only two other active college football head coaches -- Clemson's Dabo Swinney and Georgia's Kirby Smart -- have won national titles.