Both of Ohio State’s new defensive assistants participated in their first interview sessions as full members of Ohio State’s coaching staff on Tuesday.
James Laurinaitis and Matt Guerrieri met with the media for about 30 minutes each on Tuesday, and it wasn’t hard to see why Ohio State opted to hire both of them. The Buckeyes’ new linebackers coach and safeties coach had little trouble selling their vision for their position groups at Ohio State, providing a glimpse into how they can be assets for the Buckeyes in recruiting players at their respective positions.
In addition to talking about who they are as coaches and their journeys to getting to where they are now, both of them also fielded questions about some of the most notable players in their respective position groups.
Sonny Styles could potentially end up playing both safety and linebacker, and Laurinaitis and Guerrieri both see him as someone who can make plays all over the field. Laurinaitis expressed optimism about the potential for C.J. Hicks and Gabe Powers to play bigger roles for Ohio State at linebacker this season, while Guerrieri gushed about the ability of Alabama transfer Caleb Downs, who he helped recruit to OSU just days after his hiring in January.
We share our quick thoughts on what both of them had to say in our latest edition of Press Coverage, which you can watch in the video at the top of the page.
