Ohio State football 2025 fan poll results: Ryan Day approval rating, expectations and more

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The results from The Dispatch's first Ohio State football fan poll are in.
More than 200 eople responded to a series of questions about the Buckeyes, ranging from the expectations for the upcoming season and direction under coach Ryan Day to their preferred kickoff times on fall Saturdays.
It is evident that optimism is running high after the Buckeyes broke through to win their first national championship in Day's tenure in January, the result of a historic run in the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff.
Here are the full results from the poll.
1. What do you consider the state of the program?
Very good: 80.9%
Good: 16.2 %
Fair: 1.3%
Poor: 0.0%
Very poor: 1.7%
It's evident that a national championship and high ranking in the preseason polls have given a demanding fan base some new perspective.
2. How did you feel about the 2024 season?
Still on cloud nine after a historic playoff run: 65.1%
Though a national title is the ultimate prize, it felt incomplete with the setbacks in the regular season: 22.1%
I'm not over that debacle against Michigan: 10.6%
Other: 2.2%
The idea of being able to capture a national title without winning the Big Ten or beating your chief rival is still novel. Previous titles in the CFP and BCS era did not have the same blemishes.
3. How would you rate Ryan Day's six years as head coach?
Excellent: 54.5%
Above average: 39.6%
Average: 3.4%
Below average: 1.3%
Poor: 1.3%
The additions to the trophy lobby at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center bolster Day's approval rating.
4. How many games will the Buckeyes win in the upcoming season?
13 or more: 40.9%
11 or 12: 51.1%
8 to 10: 6.4%
7 or fewer: 1.7%
In the era of the expanded playoff, the cutoff between the quarterfinals and semifinals is around 13 wins, so consider the fan base split on how far the Buckeyes will go this winter.
5. What best defines a successful season for Ohio State in 2025?
Repeat as national champions: 16.6%
Reach the CFP semifinals: 31.9%
Make the CFP: 14%
Win the Big Ten: 8.5%
Beat Michigan: 26%
Other: 3%
It's not national championship or bust for the Buckeyes in 2025. Expectations are … a little lower? With a postseason run and a win at Michigan, most fans would seemingly be satisfied.
6. How will you feel about Ryan Day if the losing streak to Michigan is not snapped this year?
Day endured calls for his firing following a fourth consecutive loss to Ohio State's bitter rival last November, but only 17 out of 235 responses advocated for his dismissal if the downturn continues this fall. Most expressed sentiments that ranged from disappointment to frustration. Others acknowledged the changing stakes in the sport. Some responses, lightly edited for clarity:
'He's got to get over this mental block. Coach the way he did against Tennessee and the 2nd Oregon games. But how can you argue with his winning percentage?'
'As we know, that game is no longer the end-all, be-all. It's on US as fans to adjust to this new reality.'
'I loved the incredible championship run this past year. I like Ryan Day and would judge him on the entire season. No, I wouldn't want to jump out of a window or go crazy with hate. That's for really stupid people! They played a lot of really good football teams last year. And will do the same this year!'
'Meh. There are actually more important goals.'
'Last season proved that a loss isn't the end of the world, but (the Buckeyes) have to win against TTUN. It's not job-dependent in 2025, but the negative streak has got to end.'
'He needs to seriously figure something out. ... He's a great coach, I love him, but one of the main jobs as the head coach of the Buckeyes is to beat TTUN.'
'You don't hang banners for beating TTUN, but I will be pretty angry/confused.'
'Living on borrowed time. We're not doing 2-10-1 again.'
7. Who will be Ohio State's team MVP this year?
S Caleb Downs: 21.7%
WR Jeremiah Smith: 65.5%
LB Sonny Styles: 5.1%
WR Carnell Tate: 3%
Other: 4.7%
Smith is widely seen as the best player in college football, and nearly two-thirds of respondents see him as carrying the Buckeyes this year.
8. What grade would you give the Buckeyes' offseason?
A: 35.7%
B: 58.3%
C: 4.3%
D: 0.9%
F: 0.9%
The Buckeyes' latest offseason was not as splashy as in 2024, when they hired a sitting Big Ten coach to call their offense, but most are pleased on the whole.
9. How confident are you in Matt Patricia as defensive coordinator?
Very confident: 17.4%
Confident: 51.5%
Fairly confident: 20%
Slightly confident: 6.4%
Not confident: 4.7%
While Patricia last coached in college as a graduate assistant at Syracuse more than two decades ago, any concerns about his acclimation are pretty muted.
10. Who was the best transfer portal acquisition?
DE Beau Atkinson: 10.6%
OT Phillip Daniels: 9.8%
RB CJ Donaldson Jr.: 8.9%
DE Logan George: 6%
TE Max Klare: 47.2%
OT Ethan Onianwa: 12.3%
Other: 5.2%
Klare's 51 receptions at Purdue last season would have been the second-most ever by an Ohio State tight, making him an alluring addition to the offense.
11. Did Ohio State miss on adding a quarterback through the transfer portal?
Yes: 9.4%
No: 90.6%
While the Buckeyes found their national championship-winning quarterback through the transfer portal the previous year, few respondents saw it as an approach to replicate.
12. Who will win Ohio State's starting quarterback competition?
Lincoln Kienholz: 7.7%
Julian Sayin: 90.6%
Other: 1.7%
Day said last week that the battle between Kienholz and Sayin would go down to the wire, but most see little suspense.
13. Will Jeremiah Smith win the Heisman Trophy this year?
Yes: 30.6%
No: 69.4%
History might be a consideration, even with Smith's high profile. Only one pure wide receiver has ever won the Heisman Trophy in Alabama's DeVonta Smith in 2020.
14. Which freshman excites you the most?
S Faheem Delane: 2.1%
RB Bo Jackson: 31.9%
OT Carter Lowe: 3%
LB Riley Pettijohn: 7.7%
WR Quincy Porter: 9.4%
CB Devin Sanchez: 26.8%
QB Tavien St. Clair: 15.7%
Other: 3.4%
While there is excitement surrounding St. Clair, a former five-star recruit from Bellefontaine who figures to be the Buckeyes' quarterback of the future, his immediate impact will be more limited. Jackson and Sanchez could see the most snaps among the freshmen.
15. Which area are you most confident in the program's operations?
High school recruiting: 26.8%
Player development: 59.1%
Transfer portal retention and selection: 14%
The fruits of development were obvious in January. A roster filled with players with years of experience in the program was arguably the biggest factor in the Buckeyes' title.
16. What do you like and/or do not like about gameday at Ohio Stadium?
The draws and drawbacks might be obvious. Pros: tradition, especially the marching band. 'The ramp entrance still gives me goosebumps,' one wrote, 'and Script Ohio of course.' Cons: the cost of tickets, the length of games, TV timeouts and energy within the stands. As another wrote, 'I like the historic nature of every game by virtue of the facility. I dislike that it is not always as noisy as it should be for one of the biggest and best college programs.'
17. How do you feel about the frequency of noon kickoffs?
Too many: 67.7%
About right: 27.2%
Too few: 5.1%
Fatigue with noon kickoffs is real after the Buckeyes' final six games in the 2024 regular season all began at 12 p.m.
18. Which is your favorite telecast of OSU games?
ABC/ESPN: 43%
CBS: 8.1%
BTN: 5.1%
FOX: 37.9%
NBC: 1.7%
Maybe the best telecasts are the ones airing your team's championship run. ESPN has long held the exclusive media rights for the CFP, so while it does not telecast the Big Ten during the regular season, the network had all four of Ohio State's playoff wins.
19. Which pregame TV show do you prefer?
A: "Big Noon Kickoff": 24.7%
B: "College GameDay": 57%
C: Neither: 18.3%
The older of the college football pregame shows is also the more popular one.
20. Should another Buckeye get a statue outside Ohio Stadium after Archie Griffin?
A: Yes: 35.3%
B: No: 64.7%
The school unveiled a statue of Griffin, the former tailback who remains the only two-time winner of the Heisman Trophy, under the stadium's rotunda last year. No one else is immortalized outside the Horseshoe, and the majority do not see reason for that to change so soon.
21. If yes, who should receive a second statue?
Eight suggested Chic Harley, the All-American running back who increased the popularity of the Buckeyes in Columbus in the late 1910s, leading to the construction of Ohio Stadium, as former Dispatch columnist Bob Hunter recounted in a biography. Six others proposed another statue for legendary coach Woody Hayes. Four proposed ones for Howard Cassady and Eddie George, two other Heisman Trophy-winning backs.
22. Will Ohio State win a second national championship under Ryan Day?
Yes: 85.1%
No: 14.9%
Neither Urban Meyer nor Jim Tressel led the Buckeyes to multiple national titles in their tenures, a feat in program history that has only been accomplished by Hayes, but a significant majority expect Day to join the rare company.
Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Email him at [e-mail] and follow along on Bluesky, Instagram and X for more.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football 2025 fan poll results: What are expectations?