Ohio State AD Gene Smith Backs Coach Ryan Day

Murmurs of discontent have been heard from the Ohio State fanbase regarding the program's inability to win a national championship under head coach Ryan Day.

Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day is four years into his tenure as the head football coach. Despite his 45-6 record, many are starting to wonder if the pressure is heating up to deliver a national championship.

Some have even gone as far as to say that Day's seat is getting hot, despite taking the Buckeyes to the doorstep of winning a national championship in second-year on the job and having them close to beating the eventual national champions in the College Football Playoff semifinals a year ago. 

But those whispers of discontent should not be confused with the conversations going on inside the facility in Columbus. Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith reaffirmed his confidence in Day as his head coach, even calling him his "CEO."

“My standards are high, our team standards are high,” Smith said in an interview with ESPN’s Heather Dinich. “So we talk about how do we get better and how do we make sure we are able to win the championships that we aspire to win? We look at each individual contest that got in the way of that, and we’re trying to figure out what’s the strategy to mitigate that," Smith continued. 

"When we lose, it’s highly disappointing, but I break things down, and look at things objectively, and we have good conversations about what we need to do better.”

There is no overreacting going on, Smith has seen what it takes to build a championship-level program in his 18 years at the top of the athletic department. 

All signs are pointing in the direction of building a championship-winning program. For starters, Day is continually recruiting at an elite level. The Buckeyes have been a mainstay in the top-five of the recruiting rankings, something which, as history has shown, will pay dividends down the line. 

As for the on-field product, Day has quickly become known as one of the best offensive minds in college football, consistently putting together some of the top offensive units in the nation. 

The only drawback to this point has been the defense. Which Day has tried to rectify those problems by hiring one of the top coordinators in Jim Knowles last season. If Knowles can help get the defense back to where it was just a few years ago, then Ohio State could be positioned to win a title. 

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