Jan. 8—Ohio State is parting ways with safeties coach Perry Eliano.
The school announced Monday afternoon he has been informed the two-year contract he signed in 2022 will not be renewed or extended.
Eliano came to Ohio State in a wave of new coaches after the Buckeyes defense struggled, particularly in the secondary, in 2020 and ’21.
Prior to his time in Columbus, the Texas native was widely lauded for his work with cornerbacks at Cincinnati, where he mentored stars Sauce Gardner and Coby Bryant, but he coached safeties at Ohio State.
That unit showed improvement each season, but recruiting was more of a mixed bag after the Buckeyes missed on five-star prospect K.J. Bolden of Georgia and weren’t able to flip four-star prospect Koi Perich from his pledge to home-state Minnesota on national signing day last month.
Ohio State did sign three-star safeties Jaylen McClain of West Orange, NJ., and Leroy Roker of Fort Myers, Fla., this year after bringing in four-stars Malik Hartford of Lakota West and Cedrick Hawkins of Cocoa, Fla., and three-star Jayden Bonsu of Jersey City, N.J. last season.
The possibility also exists Eliano’s exit is more related to overall changes within head coach Ryan Day’s staff after a third straight loss to Michigan knocked the Buckeyes out of the Big Ten race and left them out of the College Football Playoff for the second time in three years.
FootballScoop.com, a website that focuses on coaching moves, reported Friday “major staff changes” are expected at Ohio State.
That includes offense, defense and special teams with a focus on offense.
Per the report, Day told the staff he planned to hire a new offensive coordinator who would have the ability to adjust the staff to his liking.
Quarterbacks coach Corey Dennis, running backs coach Tony Alford and offensive line coach Justin Frye are all at the end…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/ohio-state-buckeyes-defensive-assistant-021300957.html
Author : Dayton Daily News, Ohio
Publish date : 2024-01-09 02:13:00
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