This is just a theory I’ve had over the last couple of years. It could be completely of base, so feel free to disregard it.
I’ve spent most of my life studying trauma and working with people that have experienced a lot of trauma, myself included. I’m not going to pretend I know Ryan Day, because I definitely don’t. But he has been pretty open about his life and the tragedy he has experienced, most notably his father committing suicide when he was a kid.
Unless they’ve experienced it personally, most people have no clue how drastically those experiences shape people and change how they react to basically everything. Most notably, people who have experienced significant trauma do NOT handle stress well, and tend to freeze up or shut down in those moments.
I don’t think it’s any secret that Day is very quick to tighten up or coach scared. Again today we saw an interim coach be more aggressive and have a more effective game plan than a 5th year head coach. This is obviously not an isolated incident.
The biggest problem is when it’s rooted in trauma it’s not something you can just change. It’s not like you can just decide that you’re no longer going to react that way anymore. It’s not impossible to overcome, but it can be extreme difficult.
In the end, the “why” he is that way may not really matter. But he has shown time and time again now that that is who he is.
I’m not really sure what the solution is. Maybe it’s as simple as handing over play calling to someone else. That was supposedly the plan last off season and we saw that didn’t last. Maybe this game will be what finally causes him to make that move. But I think it’s clear something has to change.
Or maybe we just need a better QB 🫠
It’s definitely one of those two.
