Soon after Ohio State’s fourth consecutive loss to Michigan, athletic director Ross Bjork backed football coach Ryan Day and said, “Our full focus right now is on the College Football Playoff and making a strong run.”
Eleven days later, Bjork doubled down on his vote of confidence.
In an appearance on 97.1 The Fan’s “Morning Juice” with Bobby Carpenter and guest host Jeff Thitoff, Bjork was asked if, regardless of what happens in the CFP, Day will be on the sidelines for Ohio State’s 2025 season opener against Texas on Aug. 30.
“Absolutely,” Bjork answered. “Coach Day and I have just hit it off so well. I’ve been really, really impressed. Every single time I’ve talked to him, I’ve 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.
“This whole mentality about – and look, we live it, and we sign up for it – but if you get fixated on the end result and not have the process fully baked every time, you’re going to lose. The mindset’s going to lose because you’re only fixated on one thing. And so what we have to do is this whole ‘championship or bust’ mentality, you want that as the goal, but it has to be about the process. You know, Bobby, as a player, you won a national championship, so you know what that’s like. 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.”
In almost six complete seasons as Ohio State’s head coach, Day has a 66-10 record with the Buckeyes, the best winning percentage (.868) among active coaches in the sport. He also has two Big Ten championships, three College Football Playoff appearances and one national championship appearance, a 52-24 loss to Alabama at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
Still, Day is 1-4 against Michigan and has suffered four consecutive losses to the Wolverines dating back to 2021. His lone win came in 2019, a 56-27 beatdown in Ann Arbor that included standout performances from Justin Fields, J.K. Dobbins and Garrett Wilson.
While Bjork has said that part of the Ohio State head coach’s job is to beat its rival from the north, he added Thursday that Day and the Buckeyes could heal some wounds with a national championship run 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. We’re still alive. The season’s not over. The book is not closed.
“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, and if the process is right, the end result will take care of itself.”
