Tony Alford is reportedly staying in Columbus.
After serving as Urban Meyer's running backs coach for the past four seasons, Alford will remain at Ohio State on Ryan Day's inaugural staff, according to Bill Rabinowitz of the Columbus Dispatch.
Since becoming an Ohio State coach in 2015, replacing Stan Drayton who left for the Chicago Bears, Alford has both recruited high-level players and trotted out consistently productive running backs, including Ezekiel Elliott, Mike Weber and J.K. Dobbins.
In each of Alford's four years, a running back had at least 1,000 yards of rushing. Elliott rushed for 1,821 yards in 2015, the Weber had 1,096 in 2016. Dobbins broke the 1,000-yard mark each of the past two seasons and will likely crack it again next year.
In the fall, Dobbins should be the workhorse, especially since Weber left for the NFL. Demario McCall moved back to the running back room and will compete for snaps behind Dobbins. Master Teague and Marcus Crowley will also try to work their way in the rotation. Brian Snead's status is uncertain.
In the future, Alford hopes to be a head coach. He has written that as a long-term goal on past performance reviews, and he interviewed for the Bowling Green State opening in the fall. Prior to joining the Ohio State staff, Alford coached running backs at Notre Dame, Louisville, Iowa State, Washington, Kent State and Mount Union.
