The Ohio State football program won the national championship by the score of 34-23 over Notre Dame on Monday, and head coach Ryan Day got over the hump to win his first title with the program. He spoke on the journey his team has been on this season.

“The story gets to get told now, and it's a great story about a bunch of guys who have just overcome some really tough situations,” Day said, via ESPN. “There was a point where there was a lot of people that counted us out and we just kept swinging and kept fighting. It's the reason why you get into coaching, is to see guys overcome things, learn life lessons, and then reach their dreams. That's what happened tonight.”

Ohio State football went through some adversity this year, losing games to Oregon and Michigan. Day also said that players went through struggles as individuals as well, but the team stuck together and overcame those to win the title.

“Just sticking together, having each other's back,” Day said. “Faith is huge with these guys. And we built the foundation early in the season that we knew we were gonna have to withstand some storms along the way. We did. We stuck together, we hung in there like a family does when things get hard, and we came out the back end. And now, this just gives so much credibility to what these guys did all season. I'm so proud of them.”

Day has been heavily criticized during his tenure as the head coach of the Ohio State football program, largely due to losses to Michigan in the regular season and some tough losses in the playoff. Day spoke about overcoming those struggles.

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“They're my motivation,” Day said. “My family at home, my wife and kids and then these guys. That's why I get up in the morning every day, is just to try to make sure these guys reach their dreams and goals. That's all it comes down to. And then also just shows an example, when things get hard in life, you just keep swinging as hard as you can, you fight. That's our culture.”

Late in the game, Ohio State was presented with a pressure situation. Up 31-23 and facing a third down, Notre Dame was in a position to make one more stop and get a chance to tie the game. Instead, Will Howard hit Jeremiah Smith on a deep pass while the Fighting Irish came after him on a blitz.

“It was a go ball on the outside with a couple options, if they played one-on-one on the outside we were gonna take our shot,” Day said. “They did a great job of game planning us, and Will made a huge throw and Jeremiah made a huge catch to seal the game.”

That play iced the game, as Ohio State kicked a field goal to go up two scores.