Finally, seven weeks following the Cotton Bowl, Ohio State’s coaching staff for 2024 is set.
The promotion of James Laurinaitis from graduate assistant to linebackers coach by Ryan Day on Thursday marked the final assembly of Ohio State’s coaching staff. This promotion occurred six days after Day appointed Chip Kelly as his new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Bill O’Brien had left OSU to take a position as head coach at Boston College, three weeks after being hired as the team’s initial offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for 2024.
Ohio State will have five assistant coaches on both sides of the ball going into the 2024 campaign. Kelly rejoins Tony Alford, Brian Hartline, and other returning assistants.
| COACH | TITLE |
|---|---|
| RYAN DAY | HEAD COACH |
| OFFENSE | |
| CHIP KELLY | OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR/QUARTERBACKS COACH |
| TONY ALFORD | ASST. HEAD COACH FOR OFFENSE/RUNNING BACKS COACH |
| BRIAN HARTLINE | CO-OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR/WIDE RECEIVERS COACH |
| KEENAN BAILEY | TIGHT ENDS COACH |
| JUSTIN FRYE | RUN GAME COORDINATOR/OFFENSIVE LINE COACH |
| DEFENSE | |
| JIM KNOWLES | DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR |
| LARRY JOHNSON | ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH/DEFENSIVE LINE COACH |
| JAMES LAURINAITIS | LINEBACKERS COACH |
| TIM WALTON | ASSISTANT HEAD COACH/SECONDARY/CORNERBACKS COACH |
| MATT GUERRIERI | SAFETIES COACH |
Day is happy with the group he ultimately assembled.
Even though Ohio State may have taken a little longer than anticipated to assemble a coaching staff, Day is happy with the group he ultimately assembled.
“It’s our job every year to identify what areas need to be adjusted, whether it’s with the team or with the staff. And we’ve worked really hard, we’ve spent a lot of time thinking to make sure the right guys are in the right seats. So now it’s time to go to work,” Day said Friday in a brief interview following his presentation at the Ohio High School Football Coaches’ Association clinic.
Day and Kelly go way Back
Day shrugged off the suggestion that it could be awkward to have the coach he once worked for now working for him.
“It’s great,” Day said. “All I know is I love having Chip on my side.”
Regarding Laurinaitis
Day stated that he made the decision to elevate him based on the coach’s performance in his first season at Ohio State as well as the effort Laurinaitis made during the recruiting process after he was appointed as Ohio State’s 10th traveling assistant after Parker Fleming, the previous special teams coordinator, was fired in January.
Laurinaitis does a great job of drawing from his playing experience and using that to his advantage as a coach, much like Hartline, who followed a similar path to where he is now, having played at Ohio State, in the NFL, and beginning his coaching career at OSU as a quality control coach.
“Well, first off, he knows Ohio State, he loves Ohio State. He has credibility with the players, he has credibility with recruits because he’s done it,” Day said of Laurinaitis. “And not only did he do it, he did it at an unbelievable level, he did it in the NFL.
“But I’ve been impressed with the way he’s transitioned from being a player to a coach. I think when you look at James, when you look at Brian, those guys were guys who maximized themselves on the field. So as they transition from being in the NFL to college, they use a lot of the things they’ve learned, especially in the latter years of their NFL careers, to help guys on the field. And so I’ve seen so many great things from him. Had an opportunity to see him on the road (recruiting) the last couple of weeks. Did an unbelievable job. There’s a lot of momentum, so we felt like it was the right move.”