COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork said Thursday he is “absolutely” confident Ryan Day will return as the Buckeyes’ football coach in 2025.

After the Buckeyes lost to Michigan for the fourth straight season, calls mounted among Ohio State fans to fire the sixth-year coach. Bjork said in an interview on 97.1 The Fan that Day is the man for the job regardless of how the Buckeyes perform in the College Football Playoff. They host Tennessee in a first-round game on December 21st.

“Coach Day is great,” said Bjork, who came from Texas A&M last summer to replace the retiring Gene Smith. “It’s great to work with him. He totally gets it. He loves being a Buckeye. That’s why we will support him at the highest level.”

The 13-10 loss to Michigan, followed by an ugly melee between the teams, put the coach in a precarious position. Day and his team were booed off the field by the home fans and Björk eventually released a statement expressing his support for the coach.

“The reason we had to say something after the game (at Michigan) is because we’re still breathing, we’re still alive,” Bjork said. “The season is not over yet. The book isn’t closed yet.”

Thanks to the playoffs, Day has a chance to get revenge on Ohio State’s huge fan base with a win against the Volunteers and perhaps more in the 12-team tournament.

Regardless of what happens, Björk says Day will be back next year.

“Coach Day and I just got along so well,” Bjork said. “I was really very impressed. Every time I spoke to him I learned something. He is innovative. He recruits at the highest level. He has a great staff.”

Day did not want to directly address his job status last weekend.

“When you leave things like that for the first time, it’s very emotional,” he said, referring to the loss at Michigan. “And then over time you have to refocus because you know that what you did in the past has no bearing on what happens in the future. Everything is ahead of us.”

His failure to consistently beat Michigan is one of the few flaws on Day’s coaching record. He is 47-1 against all Big Ten opponents except Michigan, but is 1-4 against the Wolverines.

Day was hired as coach Urban Meyer’s staff in 2017 and was the hand-picked successor when Meyer retired after the 2018 season. With an overall record of 66-10, he is well respected in the coaching community.

But Day is now in trouble because losing the game is viewed by Buckeyes fans as an unforgivable sin.

“What we need to do is this whole ‘championship or bust’ mentality. That’s what you want as a goal, but it has to be about the process,” Björk said. “I think we may need to change some of the conversations a little bit. I think we might need to do things a little differently.”