Video: Nick Saban Calls Criticism of Ohio State's Ryan Day 'Absolutely Ridiculous'

Former Alabama head coach and current ESPN analyst Nick Saban offered an impassioned defense of Ohio State head coach Ryan Day on Monday.

"Having been a coach—having coached in the state and lived in the state for 12 or 14 years—I'm telling you, when the fans are negative and the media gets negative, it affects so many things," he said on College GameDay. "You've got to give the guy credit, he built the roster. He's built the roster for three years, and it's gotten better. His coaches have made the players better. And they made a lot of improvement and they've overcome adversity, especially in the Michigan game. So we should be giving the guy credit."

Saban, for the record, spent a number of years in Ohio as a coach. He started his coaching career at Kent State as a graduate assistant (1973-74) and linebackers coach (1975-76), spent two seasons at Ohio State as the secondary coach (1980-81), was the head coach at Toledo in 1990 and was the defensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns between 1991-94.

His most famous stops, of course, came as the head coach at Michigan State, LSU, the Miami Dolphins and Alabama.

Given his experience, he has a unique perspective into the profession, so a bit of sympathy for Day isn't surprising, especially after the Ohio State head coach was the subject of enormous critique following the Buckeyes' 13-10 loss against the Wolverines in late November. That gave Ohio State a second loss on the season, kept the Buckeyes out of the Big Ten Championship Game and was Day's fourth loss to Michigan in his five meetings.

Those ready to see him fired pointed out his struggles against the school's most hated rival and an inability to win a national championship despite a consistent abundance of talent. Those who continued to defend him noted that he brought the star players aboard in the first place and suggested that the championship-or-bust mentality at Ohio State was both unrealistic and toxic.

Day is 69-10 overall as Ohio State's head coach and has since led the Buckeyes to the College Football Playoff Championship Game against Notre Dame, silencing his critics for the time being. Saban, for one, believes Day has earned far more respect than he's often received in Columbus.