Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith showed confidence in head football coach Ryan Day, ESPN Senior Writer Heather Dinich wrote in a Tuesday article.

“My standards are high; our team standards are high,” Smith said, via ESPN. “So we talk about how do we get better and how do we make sure we are able to win the championships that we aspire to win? We look at each individual contest that got in the way of that, and we're trying to figure out what's the strategy to mitigate that.

“When we lose, it's highly disappointing, but I break things down and look at things objectively, and we have good conversations about what we need to do better.”

Ryan Day, who became the team's full-time head coach in late 2018, has helped guide the Buckeyes to a 45-6 record, including three wins in the 2018 season, according to Sports Reference. During Ryan Day's tenure, the Buckeyes have won two bowl games, the Sugar Bowl and the Rose Bowl. Ohio State fell in a 42-41 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs in the Peach Bowl, a game that saw a missed field goal from senior kicker Noah Ruggles line up perfectly with the New Year.

Junior receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., who led the Ohio State football program with 1,263 receiving yards last season, took the time to also to show his confidence in Ryan Day.

“We love the coaches, so we want to go out there and protect them and do our best for them, more so than ourselves,” Harrison Jr. said, via ESPN. “Sometimes we're just going out there and playing for them so they look good. I think that's what kind of drives us a little bit from an offense and defense players' perspective.

“Just going out there playing for your coaches because you're seeing the stuff that's said about our coaches, and we see them every day and we love them so much because of what they do for us, so if it anything it makes us play harder.”