Ohio State is looking to replace defensive coordinator Jim Knowles who left for Penn State.
I am not going to get into the spin zone that is happening when it comes to that move, feel free to look it up if you like.
Initial talk was the Buckeyes would look to promote safeties coach Matt Guerrieri. Some around OSU are trying to frame him as their Jesse Minter.
He worked with Knowles for a long time, back to Duke, so the thought is he would be the continuation of Knowles scheme. He was co-DC with Knowles for 3 years at Duke and came to OSU as an analyst, went to Indiana to be co-DC for a year, and then back to OSU as safeties coach this year.
External wise the name I keep hearing is Ole Miss DC Pete Golding.
Golding has been Ole Miss' DC for the last two seasons after spending the previous five years at Alabama. Golding would be a departure in terms of scheme, as he runs a modern defense with a lot of different fronts and secondary that utilize hybrid players. Golding makes $2.15M at Ole Miss, so expect another big payday to get him to Columbus. Caleb Downs was a big fan of Golding who recruited him to Alabama, but never played for him as he departed for Ole Miss a couple of weeks later. Day tends to get input from his best players, so I wouldn't be surprised if Downs is pushing for Golding.
A familiar name out there is also Kansas City's DL coach Joe Cullen. You'll remember Michigan and Sherrone Moore spoke with Cullen last season and it appeared Cullen was heading toward becoming the next DC at Michigan before choosing to stay in the NFL the week before the Super Bowl. Similar timelines here. Cullen's connection to Michigan was through the Ravens. With OSU, he worked for Urban Meyer with the Jaguars and he's a New England native like Ryan Day.
I am not going to get into the spin zone that is happening when it comes to that move, feel free to look it up if you like.
Initial talk was the Buckeyes would look to promote safeties coach Matt Guerrieri. Some around OSU are trying to frame him as their Jesse Minter.
He worked with Knowles for a long time, back to Duke, so the thought is he would be the continuation of Knowles scheme. He was co-DC with Knowles for 3 years at Duke and came to OSU as an analyst, went to Indiana to be co-DC for a year, and then back to OSU as safeties coach this year.
External wise the name I keep hearing is Ole Miss DC Pete Golding.
Golding has been Ole Miss' DC for the last two seasons after spending the previous five years at Alabama. Golding would be a departure in terms of scheme, as he runs a modern defense with a lot of different fronts and secondary that utilize hybrid players. Golding makes $2.15M at Ole Miss, so expect another big payday to get him to Columbus. Caleb Downs was a big fan of Golding who recruited him to Alabama, but never played for him as he departed for Ole Miss a couple of weeks later. Day tends to get input from his best players, so I wouldn't be surprised if Downs is pushing for Golding.
A familiar name out there is also Kansas City's DL coach Joe Cullen. You'll remember Michigan and Sherrone Moore spoke with Cullen last season and it appeared Cullen was heading toward becoming the next DC at Michigan before choosing to stay in the NFL the week before the Super Bowl. Similar timelines here. Cullen's connection to Michigan was through the Ravens. With OSU, he worked for Urban Meyer with the Jaguars and he's a New England native like Ryan Day.
