Wary of $37M Consequences, Ohio State Confirms Big Ryan Day Decision Right Before Playoffs

With the most stacked roster in the history of a storied Buckeyes program at his disposal, this season was essentially sink-or-swim for Ryan Day. Or so everyone thought. Ohio State’s failure in ‘The Game’ against Michigan seemed to dissipate any credit coach Day had in the bank. The HC remained defiant in the face of the defeat about his future, but there were speculations and calls for him to be removed from his position at OSU.

Yes, Day, during his tenure has a 66-10 overall and 46-5 in Big Ten play. It should be enough to quell any notions about the coach’s job being in danger. However, this tenure has yielded no national championships and four consecutive losses to Michigan, putting his position in peril. The Buckeyes haven’t also won the Big Ten since 2020. But parting ways with Day won’t come easy for the program.

Ryan Day is the fifth-highest-paid coach in college football, making $10.02 million in total pay this season. If OSU decides to fire him, they would owe him a $37.2 million buyout. In the wake of widespread discourse surrounding his head coach’s future, Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork has finally broken his silence and it appears they are prepared to back him.

Bjork, in an interview with 97.1 The Fan’s Morning Juice radio show, spoke glowingly about Ryan Day’s tenure at OSU, hinting that they are not actively seeking to replace him. “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.” 

This reaffirmation of Ryan Day will make him take a sigh of relief as he prepares to host a home playoff game at The Shoe. The primary concern reverberating across the fanbase and beyond has been whether Ryan Day can win you the big one- A Natty. He’s been viewed as a bit of a floor-raiser and not a ceiling-raiser. While his teams are often rubbing shoulders in the upper echelons, they often fall flat in the big moments. His 4 straight losses to the Wolverines are a proponent of this.

This season OSU spent $20 million on the roster, plus $21 million for the coaching staff, and would have expected a massive turnaround. Still, there is a chance for Day to salvage this season when the College Football Playoffs begin and a first appearance in the national championship game since 2020, could go a long way in restoring some belief.

Ideastream Public Media’s sports commentator Terry Pluto mentioned that while Day may not be fired in the ongoing season, OSU may look to make the change at the end of the campaign, but winning the national title will save his future at the school. “He hasn’t won the national title, and he hasn’t beat Michigan, and there’s all this money out there,” Pluto said. “And so, they’ll probably want to go get a new coach at the end of the year.”

Despite the struggles and scrutiny this year, Day has shown that he is consistent with the results. Apart from the 66-10 record, Day has led the Scarlet and Gray to the College Football Playoff in four of the six years he has been at the helm. In May 2022, he signed a two-year contract extension that will run through the 2028 football season. The Buckeyes it appears are eyeing a long-term situation with Day to give them a good chance of winning the championship at one point during his tenure. Hence, they don’t appear keen on moving from that plan.

“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 [avoid] this whole “championship or bust” sort of mentality. You want that as a goal, but it has to be about the process,” Bjork said. “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.”

The loss against Michigan was damaging and Day felt the heat, but when it came to questions about his job, he was clear that he isn’t going anywhere. “This is a wonderful place,” he said. “I have one of the best jobs in America. I’m disappointed more than anybody. We’ll continue to move and figure out what it is and overcome this obstacle.”

Now, he has received backing from the athletic director which would reassure him of his position. But what could have prompted this vote of confidence?

Ross Bjork’s vote of confidence for Ryan Day stems from two main facets

Ohio State’s loss to Michigan didn’t just put Ryan Day under duress. Its repercussions have seeped beyond the regular season and into the CFP. Owing to that result, the Buckeyes’ got eclipsed by Penn State in the B1G standings. This meant it was the Nittany Lions who went to Indy and played in the Conference Championship Game. They lost and eventually received the 5th seed. Those who’ve kept up with the CFP bracket are aware that the traversal for the 5th seed is, on paper, one of the kindest.

Not only did Ohio State’s shortcomings mean they lost out on the no.1 or the no.5 seed, but they fell right to the no.9. As a result, their path is quite treacherous. This piled even more pressure onto Ryan Day. As if his own misdemeanors weren’t enough, even the “butterfly effect” of that fateful rivalry weekend loss hurt his team.

There have been concerns of whether Buckeyes fans in attendance at The Shoe will boo the team, or worse, if they fall short to Tennessee in round 1. Ross Bjork’s comments will go some way in quelling any such possibility, especially after the pandemonium that ensued from their last home game.

Apart from this, there’s another more tangible reason for why coach Day’s job security has been pretty much confirmed. It’s the $37 million buyout clause in his contract. For a program that already has the most expensive roster in the sport, that outlay is too big a call. With all these factors converging, Ryan Day is safe for now. It’ll be fascinating to see how things evolve after the CFP and beyond. Ohio State’s journey to a National Championship begins December 21.