51ºÚÁÏ

I wasn’t the only one dropping the phrase, “I’d like to know where Lou Holtz is right now,� into sports conversations as both a humorous interjection and a means of poking fun of the absurdity of a couple of years ago.

A red-faced, blustery, demonstrative Day provided the perfect quote to save in your back pocket for when you wanted to break the tension, change the subject or just use it as a callback to one of the many moments when a coach momentarily lost his mind. Call it the Mike Gundy Hall of Fame.

And now, Day has become the voice of reason when it comes to the latest NCAA transfer portal proposal to further limit the freedom of athletes to make decisions about their futures.

If your memory of the Lou Holtz kerfuffle is foggy, a quick refresher follows.

Holtz, , is now retired and in his 80s — though he does offer commentary on college football from time to time. Holtz criticized Day’s Ohio State team and questioned its toughness during the 2023 season.

In a nationally televised prime-time matchup of top 10 teams that season, Ohio State scored a touchdown as time expired to beat Notre Dame 17-14 in South Bend, Indiana. On the field during his postgame television interview with NBC Sports, Day barked about his team’s toughness and physicality and added, “I’d like to know where Lou Holtz is right now.�

The assumption, considering the late start time and the fact that Holtz was 86 at the time, was that Holtz was likely asleep. Though, I’m not sure that was confirmed.

Anyway, that’s how Day provided a temporary gold mine of jokes at his own expense.

In all sincerity, Day’s track record and accomplishments makes him a respected voice in the college football world, and his opinion should carry weight. His coaching resume includes a national championship and the best winning percentage among active college head coaches — and third-best all-time.

So when Day spoke up about last week’s proposal from the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision Oversight Committee, it warranted attention.

The proposed change would take the current transfer portal windows, a 20-day period in December and a 10-day period in April, and condense that down to a single 10-day period from Jan. 2-11 each year. That would go for undergraduate and postgraduate transfers.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea at all,� Day told reporters this week in Columbus, Ohio. “In the conversations that we had with the Big Ten coaches, I think the majority of them agree. I just don’t quite understand how, for teams that are playing in the playoffs, they’re expected to make the decisions and sign their upcoming players while they’re still getting ready to play for games.�

Ah yes, the playoffs. That big money-making spectacle put together by the NCAA and the television companies to crown a national champion.

Well, it just so happens that the new proposed transfer window, the only time the NCAA wants to allow players to move from one school to another, comes at the height of the pursuit of a national championship.

This season, that means the window would open just after the quarterfinals, and it would close just after the semifinals and before the national championship game.

It also means the decisions for schools to add transfers would fall smack-dab in the middle of the playoffs, which expanded to 12 teams last season and start this season on Dec. 19.

“It doesn’t make any sense to me,� Day continued. “I know the calendar is funky, but I know that the Big Ten and Tony Petitti’s been working hard because he doesn’t believe it either. Neither do the coaches in the Big Ten. We’ve had a lot of long discussions about that and tried to work through the different windows, but I don’t agree with it being in January.�

Recall that current Missouri quarterback Beau Pribula made the decision to enter the transfer portal and leave his Penn State team without its backup QB and change-of-pace dual threat option last year at the most critical time of the season.

Pribula has .

Last winter, and said, “We’ve got problems in college football. I can give you my word: Beau Pribula did not want to leave our program, and he did not want to leave our program until the end of the season. ... He felt like he was put in a no-win situation, and I agree with him.

“No. 1, I hate it, most importantly for Beau Pribula. I don’t think it’s in the best interest of the student-athlete. I don’t think it’s in the best interest of college football.�

Franklin then went on to suggest potential adjustments such as changing the length of the season, eliminating conference championship games, aligning the season more with the academic calendar or putting an impartial individual in charge of overseeing college football.

The answer from the NCAA wasn’t to make one transfer window in the spring to avoid the situation Pribula faced. No, the answer was to potentially force more players into the Pribula predicament by not allowing a transfer window in the spring and making playoff time the only time for players and programs to decide.

Ryan Day isn’t the punch line anymore. He’s the one making all the sense.