Ryan Day’s Aggressive Start to the 2022 Offseason

Why Coach Day isn’t leaving the Buckeyes for the NFL anytime soon

Adam Bloom | January 13th, 2022

Heading into the 2022 offseason, Ohio State Head Coach Ryan Day’s name has been tossed around by some in the media as a name to look out for in NFL head coaching searches. There are a number of NFL teams, including the Chicago Bears where Day’s former prodigy, Justin Fields, is Quarterback, that are searching for a new coach. Despite these murmurings of a potential jump to the pros by Day, his actions during the beginnings of the 2022 offseason suggest that he is here to stay at Ohio State.

The Ohio State Buckeyes enter the 2022 offseason as Rose Bowl Champions, but there is a sense of urgency around the program after the Buckeyes failed to beat their bitter rivals to the North, and missed out on the Big Ten Championship Game and College Football Playoff in 2021. Ryan Day has not acted, so far, as a man who is in search of a new job. Day has instead been incredibly aggressive with coaching changes in the first month of the offseason. As of January 13th, Day has moved on from Defensive Coordinator Kerry Coombs, DB Coach Matt Barnes, LB coach Al Washington, and OL Coach Greg Sturdrawa.

Kerry Coombs returned to Ohio State in hopes of revitalizing a struggling defense. Despite this, the Buckeyes have continued to struggle on that side of the ball. Many place the blame for the losses to Oregon and Michigan on the defense this past season. In fact, after the loss to the Ducks in week 2, Matt Barnes was given play calling duties for the Defense, and Coombs made his way to the press box. Coombs leaves in the wake of the hiring of Jim Knowles as the new Defensive Coordinator in Columbus. Ryan Day hit a home run with his hire of Knowles, who was last season’s Defensive Coordinator of the year with the 3rd ranked Oklahoma State Defense. In addition to Coombs leaving the program, DB Coach Matt Barnes, who had taken over play calling duties, is moving on to become the Defensive Coordinator at Memphis.

To fill in the gaps for the secondary, Ryan Day has made two phenomenal hires in safeties’ Coach Perry Eliano, and Cornerbacks’ Coach Tim Walton. Eliano comes to Ohio State by way of Cincinnati, where he coached last season’s Thorpe award winner, as well as star DB Ahmed ‘Sauce’ Gardner. Cincinnati’s passing defense was ranked as one of the best in the country last season. Walton played cornerback at Ohio State in the early 90’s, and has been coaching for over a decade in the NFL as of late. He most recently worked as the secondary coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Also leaving the Buckeyes defensive coaching staff this offseason is linebacker Coach Al Washington. Washington coached three years for the Buckeyes, but he is on his way out, as new DC Jim Knowles will be coaching the linebackers for his new team.

On the Offensive side of the ball, Day got rid of offensive line Coach Greg Studrawa, who coached multiple highly respected offensive lines at Ohio State, but often struggled to close on the recruiting trail, missing out on players that the Buckeyes had sought after. Studrawa is being replaced by Justin Frye, who has worked with Day in the past at Temple and Boston College. Frye comes to the Buckeyes from UCLA, and will reunite with his former Offensive Coordinator, Ryan Day, in Columbus. In addition, Brian Hartline, Ohio State’s highly regarded wide receivers’ coach, has been promoted to passing game coordinator. Hartline, who is viewed as one of the best receiver coaches in the country, is getting a much deserved promotion by Day that should keep him happy staying in Columbus, where he has gained a reputation as one of the country’s best recruiters. Last season, Hartline coached what is widely regarded as the best wide receiver room in the country, with two 1,000 yard receivers in Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Garrett Wilson.

While Ryan Day’s name will certainly come up whenever there are open positions in the NFL, as he is viewed as one of the game’s brightest young offensive minds, his aggressive actions during the first few weeks of the 2022 offseason suggest that he is fully committed to Ohio State, and is working hard to put together a great staff that can help him continue to succeed as the head football coach in Columbus.

Go Bucks, Beat TTUN