Ohio State football team loses coach to Michigan

It has been a mostly great offseason for the Ohio State football program. They have added a bunch of talented players, made some staff upgrades, and look ready to dominate in 2024. They have one of the best defenses in the country and should be much-improved on offense. It looks like they’re headed for a good year.

Today, the Buckeyes got some tough news. Running backs coach Tony Alford has decided to take the same role with Michigan in a stunning move. He decides during Spring practice to make the move to the team’s rival, despite it being a lateral move. How does this affect Ohio State moving forward as a program?

The effect of the Ohio State football program losing Tony Alford

Alford has been with the Ohio State football program for almost a decade. Despite this, he was almost let go this offseason. Ryan Day doesn’t seem totally happy with his production as the running game has stalled in the last couple of seasons. While Alford was brought back this year, clearly there was some discontent there.

Now Day is in the unenviable spot of having to replace a coach in the middle of Spring practice. This isn’t an ideal scenario since most of the other coaches out there already have homes. This is an attractive job though. The Buckeyes should still be able to get some attractive candidates, even this late into the hiring cycle.

The running game shouldn’t be affected much this year. TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins both should still be really good this season, especially under new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly. What the concern is now is finding a coach who can recruit the best running backs in the country like Alford was able to.

We’ll see what the Buckeyes end up doing here. I’m sure Day and Kelly have some names in mind that they want to contact for this position.