Ohio State AD breaks silence on Ryan Day's job security

Ryan Day's future at Ohio State has been the subject of some speculation after the Buckeyes lost a fourth-straight game to Michigan.

Ryan Day's position as Ohio State football coach is secure, the school's athletic director has said. / Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images

While a fourth-straight loss to Michigan doesn’t hurt Ohio State’s chance to make the College Football Playoff, it has raised more questions about Ryan Day’s security as Buckeyes head coach going forward, a discussion the school’s athletic director wants to stop before it starts.

“Our full focus right now is on the College Football Playoff and making a strong run,” Ohio State AD Ross Bjork told The Columbus Dispatch.

“We have a ton to play for. We have a great team made up of talented players and great young men. Coach Day does a great job leading our program. He’s our coach.”

Bjork added: “Our program is built to last, and Coach Day has done that.”

“He has put us in a great spot ... There will be time to dissect what happened in the game, but you’ve got to go back to work. When you focus on bigger goals and bigger picture, then you just have to keep working, and that was his spirit when I talked to him.”

Day has previously stated that losing to Michigan was rivaled only by the death of his father as the worst thing to happen in his life, and the effect of another defeat was clear as he spoke with reporters following the game.

And to his players, who physically confronted their Michigan counterparts as they tried to plant an M flag on the 50-yard line at Ohio Stadium, resulting in a massive brawl that aroused police intervention and a $100,000 fine levied against both schools by the Big Ten.

Day joined the Ohio State program in 2017 as offensive coordinator under head coach Urban Meyer and served as acting coach during Meyer’s suspension in 2018, succeeding him as coach for the 2019 season to the present.

Day is 63-10 overall as Ohio State head coach, including a 45-5 record against Big Ten opponents, but 40 percent of his total losses have come against the Buckeyes’ arch-rival.

Ohio State has qualified for the College Football Playoff in 2019, 2020, and 2022 under Day’s leadership, but is yet to win a national championship.

Alabama, Georgia, and Clemson have defeated Day in College Football Playoff games, while Oregon has two wins against him, and Missouri beat his OSU team in the 2023 Cotton Bowl.

Ohio State is third nationally with +450 odds to win the national championship, according to the lines at FanDuel Sportsbook.

(Dispatch)

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