Ohio State has a Ryan Day problem that athletic director Ross Bjork wants no part of.
In the weeks since Ohio State was embarrassed at Ohio Stadium in The Game, Day's fourth straight loss to Michigan and by far the most embarrassing of the bunch, Bjork has twice publicly defended his head coach. But his most recent defense was somehow even worse than the previous one.
The first time, in the days following the 13-10 loss to the Wolverines, was more damage control than anything. Buckeye fans and even general football fans called for Day’s seat to engulf in flames as he failed to win the one game he is supposed to for yet another season. But the administration doesn’t have the gall to do what needs to be done, especially with a first-round playoff game coming up.
Instead they defend a coach that’s running out of excuses because they’re too lazy to fix their coaching problem. Ohio State boosters were able to cough up $20 million in NIL money to build a dream college football team for Day. They could find the funds for his buyout in a matter of hours if they wanted to.
So why not end the misery and find a new coach? There’s no guarantee the new coach is any better than Day. But four straight losses in the biggest game of the season and no national championships in six seasons qualifies as a fireable offense at Ohio State.
Ohio State AD defending Ryan Day again diminishes rivalry with Michigan, championship-level success
Bjork standing by Day regardless of what happens this season is essentially telling Day there’s nothing he can do on the football field that will get him fired. As if standing off in the background looking around, wondering what’s going on as his team and Michigan’s were in an all-out brawl over a flag plant wasn’t enough. Now you’re telling him, even if Tennessee comes into Ohio Stadium in December and wins – something Big Ten schools have been clamoring for years for against an SEC team – he’s able to walk along the sidelines again next season?
At what point do you cut your losses? Accepting mediocrity at a school like Ohio State seems out of character. The Buckeyes see themselves as the gold standard of winning and championships. But they haven’t won one since the very first College Football Playoff. For context, Cardale Jones was the quarterback of that team and they beat Marcus Mariota led Oregon team.
Day’s been to the CFP four times and has one national championship appearance back in the COVID season. For most other schools, this would be considered a success. But Ohio State has a higher standard.
Bjork seems to not care about that standard anymore. He’s diminished the rivalry game by backing a coach that can’t even win with a massive NIL package for the transfer portal. He’s diminished what winning means at Ohio State.
“When you first come off those types of things, there’s a lot of emotion,” Bjork said, referring to the Michigan loss. “And then as time goes on, you’ve got to get refocused because you know what you’ve done in the past does not affect what’s going on moving forward. Everything is out in front of us.”
On the one hand, that is technically true. But it also drastically misunderstands how important the Michigan game is, and ignores what those four losses represent about the gradual decline that Day has overseen.
If Day had at least one national championship, maybe you could argue he’s the best coach to weather the storm. But he doesn’t. And he’s regressed in The Game. Defending him now is a slap to the face of Buckeye fans.