Ohio State will have more than 40 years of FBS offensive line coaching experience on its 2025 staff.
New offensive line coach Tyler Bowen has just one of those years of experience, which came as Maryland’s offensive line coach in 2017. But Ohio State made sure he’ll have plenty of help developing Ohio State’s offensive linemen this season with the analyst hires it made earlier this week.
247Sports’ Matt Zenitz reported Wednesday that Ohio State is hiring Charlie Dickey and Marcus Johnson in “senior analyst-type roles” for the 2025 season. While Ohio State has not yet confirmed their exact titles or roles, it’s safe to assume both of them will have a hand in coaching Ohio State’s offensive line this year based on their career histories.
Dickey, a former guard at Arizona, has 32 years of experience coaching offensive lines at major programs, having done so at Arizona (1992-02), Washington (2004), Utah (2005-08), Kansas State (2009-18) and Oklahoma State (2019-24). Johnson, a former guard at Ole Miss who went on to play for five seasons in the NFL, has been a Power 4 offensive line coach for the past nine years at Duke (2016-17), Mississippi State (2018-19), Missouri (2020-22) and Purdue (2023-24).
Both of them have had success across their tenures as offensive line coaches to suggest they’re quality additions beyond their mere years of service.
Dickey’s offensive lines at Oklahoma State were frequently strong in pass protection, ranking in the top 20 nationally in sacks allowed in three of the last four years. They also helped pave the way for Oklahoma State to have the FBS-leading rusher twice during his six-year tenure in Stillwater, Chuba Hubbard in 2019 and Ollie Gordon II in 2023.
Throughout his career, Dickey has developed a multitude of star offensive linemen who have gone on to play at the next level such as 2021 second-round NFL draft pick Teven Jenkins at Oklahoma State, two-time All-American and 2019 second-round NFL draft pick Dalton Risner at Kansas State and All-American left tackle and 2010 second-round NFL draft pick Zane Beadles at Utah.
Johnson is projected to have an early-round draft pick this year in Marcus Mbow, whom he coached at Purdue for the past two years. While nothing went well for Purdue last season, his offensive line led the way for the Boilermakers to finish third in the Big Ten in rushing yards per game in 2023. His most successful tenure came at Mississippi State, where he helped develop All-American center and 2019 second-round pick Elgton Jenkins while his offensive lines led the way for back-to-back offenses that ranked in the top 12 nationally in rushing yards per attempt.
Of course, they likely wouldn’t be joining Ohio State as analysts if they had been coveted for other Power 4 offensive line coaching jobs this offseason. Dickey wasn’t retained at Oklahoma State after a rough 2024 season for the Cowboys in which they lost their final nine games and finished 115th in the nation in rushing yards per game despite having Gordon back for another year. Johnson was part of a Purdue coaching staff that was dismissed after a dismal 2024 campaign in which the Boilermakers lost their final 11 games with an offense that ranked 110th nationally in rushing yards per game and 105th in sacks allowed per game.
Their experience and previous successes make them more than qualified, though, for the roles they’re being hired for. And it’s a great way for Ohio State to take advantage of the rule change that went into effect in college football last summer allowing an unlimited number of coaches to coach players in practices and games.
If Bowen was Ohio State’s only offensive line coach, his lack of experience coaching offensive linemen – his only other experience coaching that position as a full-time position coach outside of Maryland came in a two-year stint at Fordham – would be a significant concern. But there are many other aspects to like about Bowen, who was viewed as a rising star in the coaching industry during his time as Penn State’s tight ends coach and co-offensive coordinator.
Bowen’s experience as an offensive coordinator for the past three years at Virginia Tech will be valuable – particularly in the run game, where he’s expected to have a role in game planning as Ohio State’s run game coordinator – as he works alongside a first-time offensive play-caller in Brian Hartline. He’s also highly regarded as a recruiter, which was a priority for Ohio State in hiring a new offensive line coach after years of mediocre recruiting by OSU standards at that position.
Although they won’t go on the road as recruiters in their analyst roles, Dickey and Johnson have the potential to be assets for Ohio State’s offensive line recruiting, too, as they already have relationships with some of OSU’s offensive line targets from their previous jobs. For example, Johnson gave priority in-state offensive tackle target Adam Guthrie his first Power 4 offer at Purdue while Dickey built a close relationship with recent offensive tackle offer Evan Goodwin at Oklahoma State.
congrats @mjohnson7672 Go Bucks! https://t.co/kvhcICsE8N
— Adam Guthrie (@AdamGuthrie21) February 20, 2025
Let's Go!! Coach Dickey and his family are amazing!
— Evan Goodwin (@goodwin2026) February 20, 2025
Having two veteran offensive line coaches working alongside Bowen should help ease Bowen’s transition back into coaching offensive linemen while giving the Buckeyes’ offensive linemen plenty of qualified instructors to learn from. They could have a fourth if Tim Drevno – who helped Justin Frye and Mike Sollenne coach the offensive line last season after previously serving as the offensive line coach at UCLA, Michigan, USC, the San Francisco 49ers and Stanford – returns for a second year as a quality control coach for the Buckeyes. Another new analyst hire, Wendy Laurent, is a former Penn State offensive lineman who also has experience coaching the position, albeit in a graduate assistant capacity before he became the tight ends coach at Dartmouth.
It also helps that Bowen inherits an offensive line that would have plenty of promise entering 2025 regardless of who was coaching it. Carson Hinzman, Tegra Tshabola, Luke Montgomery and Austin Siereveld all return after starting on Ohio State’s interior offensive line for at least part of the Buckeyes’ national championship run while the additions of Rice transfer Ethan Onianwa and Minnesota transfer Phillip Daniels give the Buckeyes two talented offensive tackles with starting experience. So Bowen and Co. won’t have to start from scratch with developing Ohio State’s starting offensive line, though all of those players still have development they need to make this offseason while the Buckeyes also need to build more depth up front, especially at tackle.
Ohio State’s offensive line has certainly had its ups and downs in recent years, so Bowen arrives in Columbus with plenty to prove as the Buckeyes look for more long-term stability in the trenches. But Ryan Day taking steps to surround him with a strong braintrust is a good reason to have confidence that the Buckeyes can get their offensive line where it needs to be in 2025.
