Ohio State officially has a new quarterbacks coach.
Corey Dennis, who has been with the Buckeyes since 2014 including the past two seasons as a senior quality control coach, was officially named as Ohio State's new quarterbacks coach on Friday.
“Corey is a talented young coach and someone I’ve worked closely alongside for three seasons,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said in Friday's announcement. “He knows our system and he knows how we teach. I think he is going to allow us to develop some continuity in the quarterback room, and that’s important. I also believe that he is going to be an excellent recruiter for us.”
Excited to have @CoreyDennis_ as Quarterbacks Coach. His familiarity with our system and ability to build relationships will be a great asset to develop our players and bring in the best talent to Ohio State! https://t.co/OCuInQQiPm
— Ryan Day (@ryandaytime) January 10, 2020
In his role as senior quality control coach for the past two years, Dennis worked closely with the Buckeyes' quarterbacks – including returning starter Justin Fields – as the assistant quarterbacks coach. Now, he's officially a member of Ohio State's full-time coaching staff, replacing Mike Yurcich, who left the Buckeyes to become the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Texas.
While Dennis has never been a full-time assistant coach before now, he is held in high regard by many of the current and former Ohio State quarterbacks he has helped coach – including current LSU quarterback and 2019 Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow.
“I think Corey is going to be a really good coach for a long time,“ Burrow said last week. “I texted him as soon as I saw the news and was fired up for him. He's worked for that for a long time, and there's nobody more deserving. He's going to be a really good coach. I'm excited for him.”
Chris Chugunov, a backup quarterback for the Buckeyes the past two seasons, said he thinks “any QB coming in and that will play for Corey should have a smile on his face, because it’s going to be fun and successful.”
“I think it would be great for any quarterback coming in to play for Corey,” Chugunov told Eleven Warriors. “He’s fun, he’s easy to talk to but at the same time, he knows a lot about the game. He knows what you have to do there to be successful. He’s obviously been very involved these last few seasons, even just since I’ve been there, the last two with (Dwayne) Haskins and Fields, he was instrumental in the success that they had.”
Dennis was reportedly in line to become the new quarterbacks coach at Colorado State after Steve Addazio became CSU's new head coach in December, but with Yurcich's departure from Ohio State, the opportunity for him to become a full-time quarterbacks coach and stay in Columbus arose instead.
Dennis, who is married to Urban Meyer's daughter Nicki, is a former Georgia Tech wide receiver who initially joined Ohio State's coaching staff as an intern in 2015. He worked with the Buckeyes' wide receivers as a graduate assistant in 2016 and 2017, then moved to the quarterback room in 2018.
Day, who was previously Ohio State's quarterbacks coach before becoming head coach after the 2018 season, is expected to continue working closely with the quarterbacks himself and calling offensive plays. Yurcich also held the title of passing game coordinator but as of now, Ohio State has not given that title to any other coach on its staff for 2020.
