Ryan Day confirms his first staff as Ohio State’s head coach

On Wednesday afternoon, Ryan Day officially confirmed the construction of his first staff as the Ohio State Buckeyes’ head football coach. While the majority of the information has already been reported and confirmed individually, there was a surprise or two when the list was officially released.

Most notably was the fact that Kevin Wilson will be the Buckeyes’ sole offensive coordinator, while the newly hired Mike Yurcich will exclusively be the passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Presumably, Wilson will collaborate with Tony Alford on the running game, as no specific coordinator for that part of the offense was named.

Alford will continue to be the running backs coach, but he will also serve as Day’s assistant head coach for offense.

On the other side of the ball, Jeff Hafley and Greg Mattison will serve as co-defensive coordinators, with the former also focusing on the secondary. Newly hired Matt Barnes will be the assistant secondary coach as well as OSU’s special team’s coordinator. These assignments in the defensive backfield led to Taver Johnson leaving the staff after his one-year return to Columbus.

The other confirmed positions are Brian Hartline as the full-time wide receivers coach and Greg Studrawa returning as the O-line coach. Then on defense, the legendary Larry Johnson returns as the defensive line coach and will now serve as the associate head coach, and Columbus native Al Washington will coach OSU’s linebackers.