With no plans to hire a full-time special teams coordinator to replace the fired Parker Fleming, Ryan Day had some phone calls to make.
Sure, incoming safeties coach Matt Guerrieri had a hand in special teams implementation at previous stops, but none of the assistants on Day’s staff have a special teams coordinator line on their résumé that comes after the year 1999.
There was no clear assistant to assign as the surveyor on special teams. So Day sought advice and received an idea he liked from a man Buckeye fans know very well, Jim Tressel.
“I made a bunch of calls to a bunch of coaches and one in particular that hit with me was when I talked to Coach Tressel,” Day said on Tuesday. “He shared with me that he did this when he was here, he assigned one of the special teams to each of the coaches. And it got great buy-in from the players because, as a player, you want to really impress your position coach.”
It’s not the exact direction Day took, but it inspired the solution he arrived at.
Two tag teams of coaches will each handle two special teams units while Day oversees the entire operation. Guerrieri and Laurinaitis will handle punt and kickoff duties, while tight ends coach Keenan Bailey and wide receivers coach Brian Hartline handle punt and kick return.
Quality control coach Rob Keys will also play a pivotal role in schematics.
“I’m gonna be very much involved with that,” Day said. “Then Rob Keys, who’s one of our analysts, he’s allowed to coach the coaches and so he can do a lot of legwork in terms of off-the-field stuff, breaking down the film, helping get things organized for us as we get into the meetings.”
Chances to impress position coaches should create more drive on special teams for the youngsters filling those roles for Ohio State.
The Buckeyes could use the buy-in Day speaks of. They have not returned a kickoff or punt for a touchdown since 2014 and did not block any kicks or punts in 2023. They were 115th nationally with 12.4 yards allowed per punt return last season and 36th with 17.9 yards allowed per kick return.
None of those statistics include the long line of special teams snafus Ohio State had. Those included a miscommunication that led to an uncalled fake punt and turnover on downs at Rutgers, three ill-advised fair catches or lack thereof in the Cotton Bowl that pinned the Buckeyes inside its 10-yard line and a litany of field-position costing penalties.
“When your position coach is out there and he’s coaching special teams, and being the head coach being very much a part of it with them, it provided a lot of buy-in from the players and it made a lot of sense to me,” Day said. “We’re doing it a little bit different than (how Tressel did). But that resonated with me and I thought that was the right thing to do this year.”
Ohio State is also adding a punter to replace three-year starter Jesse Mirco in fellow Australian Nick McLarty.
The Buckeyes’ assistants will get a chance to work out any kinks in their new special teams roles as spring practice rolls along. Ohio State hits the field for its fourth practice of the offseason on Thursday.
