While Ohio State didn’t want Justin Frye to leave after his offensive line helped lead the Buckeyes to a national championship this past season, there are several intriguing candidates to potentially replace him as Ohio State’s offensive line coach.
Given that Frye was just hired by the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday morning, there’s no clear answer yet as to who will coach Ohio State’s offensive line in 2025. But there are several coaches with Ohio State ties who could fit the bill as his successor, while the Buckeyes should also have the war chest to hire away a top offensive line coach from elsewhere should it want to do so.
We take a look at eight coaches who would be logical candidates to replace Frye should they have interest in becoming Ohio State’s offensive line coach.
Kevin Wilson, former Ohio State offensive coordinator
Wilson hasn’t yet landed a new job since his tenure as Tulsa’s head coach ended in November, and he’s maintained close ties to Ohio State through his son Toby, who was a walk-on offensive lineman for the Buckeyes for the past four years. Having already worked with Ryan Day for six years as Ohio State’s offensive coordinator from 2017-22, Wilson would bring a great combination of familiarity and offensive expertise to the role.
While Wilson coached Ohio State’s tight ends during his previous tenure with the Buckeyes, he also worked closely with the offensive line and was previously the offensive line coach at Oklahoma and Miami (Ohio). This may become a more likely option if Chip Kelly also leaves for the NFL, as Ohio State could then bring back Wilson as offensive coordinator, but keeping Kelly as OC while also adding Wilson to the staff as offensive line coach would be an ideal scenario.
LeCharles Bentley, former Ohio State offensive lineman
Take a quick look at the Eleven Warriors forums or social media, and there’s a clear favorite among Ohio State fans to become the Buckeyes’ new offensive line coach. A former Ohio State star who was an All-American center and Rimington Trophy winner for the Buckeyes, Bentley would be another home-run hire for Ryan Day, as he’s become a highly renowned developer of offensive linemen through his work training both NFL and collegiate offensive linemen.
Bentley has never been a full-time coach for an actual college football team before, and it’s uncertain whether he’d want to be given that he currently serves as the NFL’s senior advisor of player performance and development in addition to his various business interests. Given the reputation he has in the offensive line community and his background as a Buckeye, though, Day should at least call Bentley to gauge his interest.
Tim Drevno, Ohio State quality control coach
Should Ohio State prefer to prioritize continuity, it has a strong candidate to promote from within in Drevno.
Before joining the Buckeyes last offseason as a quality control coach, Drevno was the offensive line coach for a variety of teams including UCLA, USC, Michigan and the San Francisco 49ers, making him plenty qualified to replace Frye should Ohio State choose to go that route.
Joe Rudolph, Notre Dame offensive line coach
Should Ohio State seek to hire a top offensive line coach from another college team, the offensive line coach from the team it just faced in the national championship game would be a good place to start.
Rudolph is highly regarded as one of the best offensive line coaches in the business, leading offensive lines that earned Joe Moore Award semifinalists in each of his first two seasons at Notre Dame after previously coaching the offensive lines at Virginia Tech and Wisconsin. He has history at Ohio State, having been a graduate assistant for the Buckeyes from 2004-06, and appears to at least be exploring his options as he recently interviewed to be the Chicago Bears’ offensive line coach.
Phil Trautwein, Penn State offensive line coach
After Penn State poached Jim Knowles away from Ohio State to be its defensive coordinator, Ohio State could land a return blow on the Nittany Lions by hiring Trautwein to be its offensive line coach.
Trautwein started his coaching career working alongside Day as a graduate assistant at Boston College and played for Urban Meyer at Florida, so those ties could give him reason to entertain an offer from the Buckeyes. Penn State’s offensive lines have gotten progressively stronger across his five years as its offensive line coach with the Nittany Lions finishing this past season 17th in the FBS in rushing yards per game (202.3) and 23rd in sacks allowed per game (1.25).
Glen Elarbee, Tennessee offensive line coach
Should Ohio State prioritize improved recruiting in its offensive line coach hire, Elarbee could be an intriguing candidate. Tennessee’s offensive line recruiting classes have ranked among the best in the country for each of the past two years, most notably with the Volunteers beating out Ohio State to land five-star offensive tackle David Sanders Jr. in the 2025 recruiting cycle.
Elarbee has taken some flak from Tennessee fans for a perceived lack of development among Volunteer offensive linemen, and he might be more inclined to stay at Tennessee as a Georgia native who’s spent most of his coaching career in the Southeast. But Ohio State will certainly be looking for its next offensive line coach to reel in more top national recruits than Frye did, and Elarbee has demonstrated an ability to do that.
Mike Sollenne, UNLV offensive line coach
Another option to maintain familiarity along the offensive line would be to bring back Sollenne, who worked alongside Frye for the past three seasons as a graduate assistant.
While he was just hired last month as the new offensive line coach at UNLV, the Rebels would be hard-pressed to compete with an offer from Ohio State if the Buckeyes were interested in bringing him back. Sollenne drew consistent praise from Ohio State players for his role in developing them over the past three seasons, so bringing Sollenne back would be making a bet on a rising star while also a likely popular move among OSU’s returning offensive linemen.
Chip Kelly, Ohio State offensive coordinator
Assuming Kelly stays at Ohio State rather than taking an NFL job, one other possible option – if Kelly is open to it – could be a change in position coaching responsibilities for Ohio State’s current offensive coordinator.
While Kelly currently coaches the Buckeyes’ quarterbacks, Ohio State is seemingly priming offensive analyst Billy Fessler – who also worked closely with the quarterbacks this past season – for a potential promotion as he’s taken the place of Knowles as one of Ohio State’s 10 assistant coaches recruiting on the road for the past week. Kelly was the offensive line coach for part of his time at New Hampshire and has plenty of experience working with offensive linemen as an offensive coordinator, so he’d be qualified to make this move if it was something all parties had an interest in.
