COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork said Thursday he is “absolutely” confident Ryan Day will return as Buckeyesfootball coach in 2025.
After the Buckeyes’ loss, there were calls among Ohio State fans to fire the sixth-year coach Michigan fourth year in a row. Bjork told 97.1 The Fan that Day is the right person for the job, regardless of how the Buckeyes do in the College Football Playoff. They are hosts Tennessee in the first round match on December 21.
“Coach’s Day is amazing,” said Bjork, who came from Texas A&M last summer to replace the retiring Gene Smith. “He’s great to work with. He totally understands it. He loves being a Buckeye. That’s why we will support him at the highest level.”
A 13-10 loss to Michigan, followed by an ugly fight between the teams, left the coach in a precarious position. Day and his team were booed off the pitch by the home fans, and Bjork released a statement expressing his support for the coach.
“The reason we had to say something later [the Michigan] The thing is, we’re still breathing, we’re still alive,” Bjork said. “The season is not over yet. The book is not closed.”
Thanks to overtime, Day has a chance to redeem himself among Ohio State’s massive fan base with a win over the Volunteers, and perhaps an even bigger one in the 12-team tournament.
According to Bjork, no matter what happens, Day will return next year.
“Coach Day and I just got along great,” Bjork said. “I am extremely impressed. Every time I talk to him, I learn something. It is innovative. Recruits at the highest level. He has a great staff.”
Day did not directly address his professional situation last weekend.
“When you first encounter situations like this, there are a lot of emotions,” he said, referring to the loss at Michigan. “And then as time goes on you have to refocus because you know that what you did in the past has no impact on what happens in the future. Everything is ahead of us.”
The failure to consistently beat Michigan is one of the few blemishes on Day’s coaching record. He is 47-1 against all Big Ten opponents except Michigan, but is 1-4 against the Wolverines.
Hired as a member of coach Urban Meyer’s staff in 2017, Day was a handpicked successor when Meyer retired after the 2018 season. His 66-10 overall record makes him widely admired in the coaching community.
But Day is in trouble now because Buckeyes fans consider losing to be an unforgivable sin.
“We have to do this whole ‘champion or bust’ mentality, you want that as a goal, but it has to be about the process,” Bjork said. “I think maybe we need to change some of the conversations a little bit. I think maybe we should just approach things a little differently.”
