Among the 11 members of Ohio State’s freshman class of 2022 who arrived on campus last month as early enrollees, six of them already have different position coaches than the ones who recruited them to become Buckeyes.
Instead of being coached by Kerry Coombs, cornerbacks Jyaire Brown and Ryan Turner will now be coached by Tim Walton. Safety Kye Stokes will now be coached by Perry Eliano instead of Matt Barnes. Linebackers C.J. Hicks and Gabe Powers are now being coached by Jim Knowles instead of Al Washington, while George Fitzpatrick’s offensive line coach is now Justin Frye instead of Greg Studrawa.
As they met with the media for the first time since the coaching staff changes on Wednesday, many of those players said it was difficult to learn that they would no longer have the opportunity to play for the coaches who they built close relationships with during the recruiting process.
All of them said they’re still happy to be at Ohio State, though.
“It was kind of devastating to me, especially because I had a good relationship with Coach Coombs and he was really my main recruiter,” Brown said. “But I had a good relationship with Coach Day and just this program in general, just being here, it helped with everything. Even though all the other coaches have left and are moving onto bigger things, it's just being here and realizing that this is one of the best programs in the nation.
“(Ryan Day) called my phone before and he just let me know, like, this is what’s best for the team, this is how we’re moving forward and I was like okay Coach, let’s get it.”
Hicks and Turner both said they understood that coaching changes are part of the business of college football and said they trusted Day to make decisions that were in their best interest.
“It was hard a little bit because before Coach Washington did leave, we all had our linebackers meeting and we was talking about we were gonna shock the country and show everybody who Ohio State's linebackers are, and the next day to hear that he's gone kind of hurt because he's the guy that was recruiting me for two years,” Hicks said. “But I understand that it is a business, and Ohio State's gonna replace good coaches with good coaches, too. So Coach Knowles has been doing a good job and all the new defensive coaches have been doing a great job, too.”
Brown, Turner, Hicks and Powers all found out that their position coaches would be leaving after they had already arrived at Ohio State. Fitzpatrick found out just a few days before arriving, in the middle of a practice at the All-American Bowl, when a reporter informed him Ohio State had fired Studrawa.
“I was shocked,” Fitzpatrick said. “It was kind of tough even coming here and then not knowing my coach really too well, but Coach Frye has really done a great job of reaching out to me, talking to me. He's talked to my dad a few times as well, just making sure that we're comfortable there.”
As this is the first week Ohio State’s new coaching staff has all been together on campus after they spent the previous few weeks on the recruiting trail, all of the Buckeyes are still getting to know their new coaches. They say they like the first impressions they’ve gotten from their new coaches, though.
Turner and Brown said they’re impressed with Walton’s pedigree as an NFL cornerbacks coach – both of them specifically mentioned his experience coaching All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey – and that they expect Walton to help them achieve their NFL goals.
“He's a very cool, humble guy,” Turner said of Walton. “He just wants to see everybody push themselves. He wants to push everybody to their limits and to see what they can do.”
Brown already knew Eliano from being recruited by Eliano when Eliano was Cincinnati’s cornerbacks coach, and Brown described Eliano as “genuine,” saying Eliano checked in on him after his father died last year even though he was already committed to Ohio State. Stokes also used that word when he was asked about Eliano and Walton, describing them as “very genuine people.”
“They've coached the best of the best, they've been around the best of the best,” Stokes said. “So I feel like they have a lot of knowledge and wisdom to pass on. And I'm just interested and eager to learn from them.”
Fitzpatrick also met Frye as a recruit when Fitzpatrick was playing high school football in Colorado and Frye was the offensive coordinator at UCLA. As he’s gotten to know Frye better, Fitzpatrick says they’ve had “great conversations so far.”
“I’m definitely super excited for the future with Coach Frye,” Fitzpatrick said.
Powers – who said he’s actually spent more time so far with Koy McFarland, a support staffer who is helping coach the linebackers after coming with Knowles from Oklahoma State – described Knowles as “very intense” but said that’s exactly what he wants in a coach. Hicks offered a similar assessment of the Buckeyes’ new defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.
“You give him 110% every time that you can, you will have a good relationship with him,” Hicks said. “He doesn't like guys that give half-effort. If you give 110% to him, he’s going to give 110% back to you.”
While Ohio State’s newcomers will never actually be coached by Barnes, Coombs, Studrawa or Washington, Hicks and Powers will get the opportunity to reunite with the coach who recruited them in their first game as Buckeyes, as Washington will return to Ohio State as Notre Dame’s new defensive line coach when the Buckeyes host the Fighting Irish in their season opener. Both of them made it clear, though, that they’ll want to hand Washington a loss in his first game at Notre Dame even though they still hold him in high regard.
“I love him, but it wasn't just one coach I committed for,” Powers said of Washington. “So I loved him as a coach and I wish him nothing but the best, but we got to beat him.”
