Ohio State had lost defensive coordinator Jim Knowles to Penn State and now offensive coordinator Chip Kelly and offensive line coach Justin Frye will be leaving Columbus to coach in the NFL, Kelly with the Las Vegas Raiders and Frye to the Arizona Cardinals.
Kelly spent one season in Columbus after his surprising decision to resign as UCLA's head coach to serve as the Ohio State coordinator and one cannot argue with the result after the National Championship but if one report can be believed, Kelly will receive a six million dollar payday with the Raiders, which would triple Kelly's salary with Ohio State.
There is no way that Ohio State could come close to equalling that number, so one cannot blame Ohio State for not matching the Raiders offer or Kelly for accepting.
Frye was paid one million by Ohio State last season and while the terms of Frye's deal with the Cardinals are undisclosed, it's likely Frye will be accepting a healthy salary increase.
Frye's three-year tenure had its ups and downs but Frye did his best work in 2024 with an offensive line that suffered injuries to his two best linemen during the season, Josh Simmons and Seth McLaughlin.
At first glance, I think that Kelly might be the easier coach to replace than Frye with the availability of Kevin Wilson, who was fired as the head coach at Tulsa after spending six years as the coordinator with Ohio State.
Wilson would be an easy fit with Ryan Day as they had success working together in the past and now that Wilson's head coaching career appears to be finished after his Tulsa tenure (7-16, fired with one game to go last season) and his age (64 in October), Wilson could look at Ohio State as a place that he could finish his career.
Ohio State could also move to Brian Hartline, who between his recruiting and development of wide receivers is a keeper at all costs, so if keeping Hartline means giving him this job, so be it.
It's risky since Hartline has never called plays but considering his importance to the program if he wants it, it's his.
Other mentioned candidates have been Toledo head coach Jason Candle, Akron head coach Joe Moorehead, Syracuse offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon, and Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein.
Replacing Frye could be harder when you consider the recruiting aspect of the job.
Kevin Wilson could be a candidate for this position as well but the leader in the eyes of fans appears to be former Buckeye and All-Pro center LeCharles Bentley, who is renowned for his work with college and NFL prospects.
Bentley may not be interested but if he is, he would be a huge addition to the staff.
Should Ryan Day decide to go internal, Tim Drevno spent last season on the staff as a quality control staff but has a long record as an OL coach.
Notre Dame's Joe Rudolph has had success at three stops (Virginia Tech, Wisconsin, and Notre Dame) and was once a graduate assistant at Ohio State.
Those are my top candidates but here are other possibilities.
Two weeks isn't very much time in the real world but in the college football world it's enough time to change a program.
At the very least, Ohio State will have three major changes for 2025 on a staff that could have used some stability.
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