How will Ohio State’s Ryan Day use the assistant coach vacancy on his staff?
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State football coach Ryan Day’s firing of special teams coordinator Parker Fleming gives him a chance to reconfigure the balance of his staff.
That vacant position will almost certainly now be used on a defensive coach, after three years of a 6-4 split favoring coaches with offensive backgrounds. Many programs put special teams oversight on the plate of one of the position coaches. Day did that with Matt Barnes on his first staff in 2019.
However, Day can go one of two ways with that vacancy, and both have merit. Both also carry an added benefit for recruiting.
Day could simply elevate James Laurinaitis to linebackers coach. The former Buckeye All-American and longtime NFL linebacker began serving as the graduate assistant with that position group last year.
Laurinaitis has already made an impact in recruiting — though as a GA, he is not allowed to do so off-campus. This promotion would allow him to fully execute an assistant’s duties and take his on-campus and telephonic connections on the road.
It would also take linebacker coach duties off defensive coordinator Jim Knowles’ plate and allow him to focus on being, per Day’s parlance, the head coach of the defense.
At the same time, OSU can utilize Laurinaitis as a GA for one more year. (NCAA rules limit GAs to three years, and he used his first one at Notre Dame in 2022.) If OSU planned to promote Laurinaitis, it should have done so immediately after the regular season, when he could have made visits prior to signing day.
When that didn’t happen, it suggested Day might turn in another direction.
Defensive line coach Larry Johnson hates speculation about when he will call it a career. Day used his signing day press conference to push back on any notion that Johnson has one foot out the door. Yet it clearly has been a topic of concern for some prospects, with Amaris Williams recently saying it affected his decision not to commit to OSU.
So Day could set up a succession plan. Hire an assistant defensive line coach so (potential) future Buckeyes can build a relationship with someone whose age precludes retirement speculation.
Also, from a sheer numbers standpoint, Johnson may need the recruiting help in this cycle. The defensive line will lose either four or five players completing their eligibility after next season. (The wild card is whether J.T. Tuimoloau, who has yet to announce his 2024 plans, is in that group.) Additionally, ends Kenyatta Jackson and Caden Curry and tackle Hero Kanu all enter their third season.
Ohio State took six defensive linemen in the last two signing classes. it may need that many in the 2025 class alone, depending on the give and take of the transfer portal. Another body could help facilitate that lift while also bridging to whenever Johnson does decide to move on.
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Both options have upside. Unless Day shockingly doubles down on hiring another full-time special teams coordinator with an offensive background, he may have no wrong answer here.
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