Ohio State AD Ross Bjork reaffirms commitment to Ryan Day
COLUMBUS — Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork defended Ryan Day and gave him a vote of confidence a day after the upset rivalry loss to Michigan a couple of weeks ago.
Well, Bjork did an interview with 97.1 The Fan’s Morning Juice radio show Thursday morning, and he offered even more insight about Day’s job security ahead of the College Football Playoff first-round home game against Tennessee.
“Coach Day, and I have just hit it off so well,” Bjork said of Day. “I’m been really impressed. Every single time I talked to him, I learned something. He’s innovative. He recruits at the highest level. He’s got a great staff. There’s always tweaks. There was tweaks after last year, right? You’re always going to tweak things. You’re always going to make adjustments. You’re always going to make improvements. The thing that this whole mentality about, and look, we live it and we sign up for it, but if you think about if you get fixated on the end result and not have the process fully baked every time, you’re going to lose. The mindset is going to lose because you’re only fixated on one thing. And so what we have to do is this whole “championship or bust” sort of mentality. You want that as a goal, but it has to be about the process. And you know, Bobby [Carpenter] as a player, you won a national championship, so you know what that’s like. And so to me, we’ve got to maybe change some conversations a little bit. I think we need to maybe just approach things a little bit differently.”
Day, of course, has an incredible 66-10 record as the head coach of the Buckeyes, including a win in the College Football Playoff (2020 Sugar Bowl over Clemson). He has also won a Rose Bowl to go along with two Big Ten championships. He has taken the Buckeyes to the CFP four times in six years, including this season in the new 12-team format.
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But his job security has been a big topic of conversation because he took his fourth straight loss to Michigan two weeks ago. Unlike the first three, those coming against elite Michigan teams, this latest loss came against the worst Wolverines team in a decade. Day also took a loss to Oregon in Eugene in October.
At 10-2, not many coaches are placed on the hot seat. But this is Ohio State.
Bjork believes in Day’s ability to lead the Buckeyes forward despite the two losses this year. After all, the Buckeyes are still alive for the national title this season.
“Coach Day is awesome,” Bjork said. “He’s great to work with. He totally gets it. He loves being a Buckeye, and so we’re going to support him at the highest level throughout. But here’s the thing too, and the reason why we needed to say something after that game is we’re still breathing. They’re still alive. The season’s not over. The book is not closed, right? And so we’ve got to have confidence. I mean, Ohio State should be confident every single day. We’re Ohio State. But we also have to make sure we stay to our values and we stick to what we believe in. And so to me, it’s the process as much as it is about the end result.”
