Ohio State football coach reportedly interviewing for NFL team

The Ohio State football program still doesn’t have a full staff of full-time coaches for the 2024 season. They still have a spot left to be filled. Chip Kelly took over as offensive coordinator once Bill O’Brien left, so Ryan Day would still need to hire a defensive coach to even out the staff. This is because he finally did the smart thing and fired Parker Fleming as special teams coordinator.

Day has said that he wants to finalize that final hire by the end of the week. This is despite the fact that he has someone on staff who could easily be promoted to a full-time role who has deep ties to the Buckeyes. That is James Laurinaitis, the former All-American linebacker who is currently a part-time GA coach with Ohio State.

The Ohio State football program could lose James Laurinaitis to the Browns

Laurinaitis joined the Buckeyes last year after a year on Marcus Freeman’s staff at Notre Dame. He is now reportedly interviewing for a position with the Cleveland Browns. There is no full-time position with the Browns available right now so it’s not entirely clear what position Laurinaitis would be interviewing for.

Nonetheless, Day should want to retain him. He should promote James to a full-time linebackers coach. Right now, Jim Knowles is in charge of the linebackers along with coordinating the defense. If Day wants to lessen Knowles’ load and keep someone who has deep Ohio State football roots happy, he should promote Laurinaitis.

I think he’s a good coach and deserves a shot to be a full-time staff member. Also, the Buckeyes DO NOT need a special teams coordinator. Day can do that now that he’s no longer calling plays. The Buckeyes were terrible last season with a full-time special teams coordinator. It’s not like they can be much worse if they don’t have one.

It’ll be interesting to see if Laurinaitis decides to bolt for the NFL if Ohio State doesn’t promote him. If he does, I can’t blame him. He has to do what’s best for him and his family.