Unlike the offense, the defense at Ohio State has been a resounding success for most of the past decade.
As a result, the anticipation (and, quite frankly, the need) for new coaches on defense isn’t as great as the offense. At the same time, there are still some intriguing prospects out there that may join Urban Meyer’s staff.
The new coaches will be joining a core group of coaches from the Tressel era, and given their previously mentioned success, that is far from a bad thing.
Obviously, the biggest holdover from the Tressel era will be Luke Fickell. While his official title will likely be ‘assistant head coach’, he will be heavily involved on defense- possibly even resuming his role coaching the linebackers.
Here is a look at the rest of the holdovers as well as the rumored candidates to fill out the staff.
Coordinator
Available
Recently fired as Arizona’s HC, Mike Stoops is a hot name on the defensive coordinator circuit.
Born and raised in Youngstown, Ohio- Stoops has roots in the state and therefore to the Buckeyes. He also has connections to Oklahoma (Mike Stoops, his brother) and Nebraska (Bo Pelini, Cardinal Mooney) who are both unsurprisingly rumored to also be after his services.
Stoops is a big name that would draw a big salary and likely bring quite a big ego to the table as well. Honestly, I could take him or leave him as the DC.
However, if Meyer thinks he would fit on the coaching staff (and he signs on the dotted line) then so be it.
Temple, DC/DB
Chuck Heater has deep roots with Urban Meyer at Florida (2005-2010) including two years as recruiting coordinator (2006-2007) in addition to coaching at Ohio State under Earl Bruce (and with Meyer) in ’86.
His connection with Meyer is actually relatively interesting/coincidental. To quote from his bio on Temple’s athletic site:
Heater worked alongside former Florida head coach Urban Meyer at four different Division I programs. In 1986, Heater coached the secondary at Ohio State when Meyer was a graduate assistant. They coached together again at Colorado State from 1991-92 where Heater was the defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach and Meyer as the receivers coach. Heater was also a member of the Utah coaching staff in 2004.
In addition to all of the above, Heater was also born in Tiffin, Ohio. On the other hand, he was an all-Big Ten running back at Michigan.
Bottom line: his resume is impressive and he obviously works well with Meyer (which is something that wouldn’t be so certain with Stoops).
Florida, LB/ST
DJ Durkin worked with Meyer as a defensive grad assistant at Bowling Green (2001-2002) and was hired to his current position with the Gators by Meyer in 2010.
Durkin was born in Youngstown, Ohio and played college ball at Bowling Green.
Not nearly as experienced as Heater, Durkin may also get a look at LB (although retaining Fickell could make that coaching position a bit redundant).
LSU, DC
John Chavis can be filed under the “Meyer is after the best of the best” category, but beyond that there isn’t much realism behind this option.
One thing that might help is his connection to Studrawa through LSU, but this is still extremely unlikely.
Defensive Line
Toledo, AHC/coDC/LB
Mike Ward is a man who wears many hats at Toledo. Prior to Toledo, he worked as the defensive line coach and defensive coordinator at Bowling Green from 2000 through 2008 (with 2001-2002 being with Meyer).
Like most of the good coaches out there, Ward was born in Ohio.
Linebackers
Ohio State, LB
It hasn’t been confirmed officially, but based on reports from the recruiting trail it seems likely that Mike Vrabel will be one of the coaches retained from the current staff.
Although the defense had a rough go of it this year with injuries and inexperience, having Luke Fickell (teammate at Ohio State and long time friend) and Bill Belichick (long time coach at New England) in your corner goes a long way.
Vrabel could also serve as the defensive line coach- the position he played while at Ohio State (DE). If he does coach the line, he will be helping players attempt to break his own marks that are still at the top of the Buckeye record books.
Another thing to consider is Vrabel being closely supervised and tutored by Fickell, which may have been part of the pitch to keep him on the staff.
NC State, LB
Jon Tenuta coached the secondary at Ohio State from 1996 to 2000.
He is extremely experienced and currently coaches linebackers at NC State.
Defensive Backs
Ohio State, CB
Taver Johnson is a confirmed holdover from the current staff and will likely maintain his responsibilities as the CB coach.
Given the product on the field, I have no complaints here.
Ohio State, S
Paul Haynes recently interviewed with Arkansas for their DC position and is far from a lock to be retained on the staff (obviously not due to a lack of performance, but due to a potential promotion).
Update (12/10/11): It’s official, Haynes has been promoted to Arkansas defensive coordinator.
Haynes and Johnson have been an outstanding one-two coaching punch in the secondary for years, and losing Haynes would be a set back.
However, Johnson could potentially take over some of Haynes’ duties if he does move on.
It is also worth noting that Heater has experience coaching the secondary- which could also help make up for the potential loss of Haynes.
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As shown by the recent hiring of Tom Herman as QB coach, other names could come up at a moments notice as well.
Like recruiting, the potential coaching staff is an extremely fluid situation.
However, based on this list, I will go with a preferred defensive staff of:
Asst. HC/LB/DL: Luke Fickell
DL/LB: Mike Vrabel
DC/DB: Chuck Heater
DB: Taver Johnson
The interesting thing here (which also parallels recruiting) is that you run into a numbers limit for coaches (10), which is why I have left out a pure DL coach.
I don’t necessarily like not having a coach assigned exclusively to the defensive line, but there might not be room for one (depending on how things go on the offensive side of the ball).
I personally would be happy with a Fickell/Vrabel tandem for the line and linebackers, but we will have to wait and see what happens.
Given the flexibility of many coaches and their ability to handle multiple responsibilities, there are plenty of options in how to put a coaching staff together.
It will be exciting to see how it ultimately shakes out.
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