Who Is Ohio State Buckeyes Coach Ryan Day’s Wife, Nina? All About Their Relationship — Which Started on the T-Ball Field

Mar. 15, 2025

Ryan Day and Nina Day on December 7, 2019 in Indianapolis, Indiana.Photo:Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty

Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty

Ohio State University’s football coach, Ryan Day, has found the ultimate teammate in his wife, Nina Day.

“I don’t think any other place compares to [Ohio State]. This place is very, very special. We knew it the minute we got here,” she toldWSYX ABC 6in August 2019.

The Day family moved more than 10 times for Ryan’s coaching career before they landed in Ohio. Nina has supported her husband through every win and loss — and on Jan. 10 she’ll be rooting from the stands as the Buckeyes face off against the Texas Longhorns in the 2024-25 College Football Playoffs semifinals in Dallas.

So who is Ryan Day’s wife? Here’s everything to know about Nina Day and her relationship with Ohio State University’s football coach.

She’s from New Hampshire

Ryan Day and his wife Nina Day.Ryan Day/ Instagram

Ryan Day/ Instagram

Nina (whose full first name is Christina) grew up in Manchester, N.H., about a “mile and a half away" from Ryan.

As kids, they played T-ball together in 1985 and looking back, Nina says her husband had a coach’s mentality even then.

The pair attended the same schools growing up, including college at the University of New Hampshire. Ryan played football at UNH, and Nina described their relationship as “off and on” during that time.

She and Ryan wed in 2005

Nina Day and Ryan Day on September 1, 2018 in Columbus, Ohio.Jamie Sabau/Getty

Jamie Sabau/Getty

After college, Ryan and Nina rekindled their romance and married in June 2005.

She and Ryan share three children

Ryan Day and Nina Day with their three kids on December 7, 2019, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty

“He is an unbelievable dad,” Nina told WSYX ABC 6 in August 2019. “He’s very, very hands-on with the children.”

She is supportive of Ryan’s college football coaching career

Nina Day and Ryan Day in 2019 at a college football game Saturday, Aug. 31, 2019, in Columbus, Ohio.AP Photo/Jay LaPrete

AP Photo/Jay LaPrete

From the beginning, Nina has cheered on Ryan’s football coaching dreams.

She is anything but unfamiliar with college sports: Her dad,Stan Spirou, was the men’s basketball head coach at Southern New Hampshire University for 33 seasons. She grew up rooting for the Penmen alongside her mom, Patricia, her twin sister, Kelly, and her brother, Chuck.

Nina continued, “Within a 15-year span, we moved 11 times. In that time, we had three children. It was a lot. It was very unstable for a long time.”

The family has now been in Ohio for eight years, and while Ryan has earned many accolades throughout his career, such as2019 Big Ten Conference Coach of the Year, he has yet to win a College Football Playoffs title — a trophy he and his are currently vying for.

She is known as the “First Lady of Ohio State Football”

As the “first lady,” Nina is in the limelight — something she has had to get used to.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever feel comfortable with that [title]. I definitely was a deer in headlights the first year,” she toldWSYX ABC 6in August 2022. “But now, more than ever, as a family, we’re ready to tackle everything that comes with being the head coach of Ohio State.”

She and Ryan are mental health advocates

Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day before the game against the Michigan Wolverines and the Ohio State Buckeyes on November 30, 2024, at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty

Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty

That same year, the couple made a $1 million gift to Ohio State and establishedThe Nina and Ryan Day Resilience Fund, which supports mental health research and services at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and College of Medicine.

“Nina and I both understand how important it is to have someone you can turn to for help and strength in times of difficulty,” Ryan said in a press release. “Our hope is that this fund will allow more Buckeyes to find the support they need to become more resilient.”

source: people.com