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Dutch's 2025 Ohio State Football Droppings

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  • Dutch OvenD Dutch Oven wrote on last edited by
    #1

    So after the season ended with Ohio State as National Champions, depending on how they are counted their seventh or ninth national title, there were quite a few coaching changes. 

    1. Jim Knowles left Ohio State and went to Penn State. This one is a doozy. Speculation was that Knowles and DLine coach Larry Johnson butted heads. After the regular season loss in Eugene vs Oregon (where Nick Saban after the game literally told the world that Ohio State's pass rush was out-dated and vanilla) Ryan Day sat the defensive coaching staff down and told them changes needed to come. Knowles had to defer to Johnson regarding the DLine for 2+ years regarding style of play and player rotation, but he got his way now, and the pass rush the rest of the season was greatly improved. Apparently the bad feelings were still there, and Knowles moved to Happy Valley. Larry Johnson is a fantastic DLine Coach, universally regarded as one of the best, but I sincerely hope Ohio State doesn't revert to vanilla DLine play. 

    2. Chip Kelly did Ryan Day a solid and stepped into the Offensive Coordinator job after Bill O'Brien took the job last winter, then left for the Boston College head coach job. Apparently it was known that Kelly was a short-term fix all along, and Kelly left for the NFL to take the Las Vegas Raiders OC job. Ohio State's WR coach and recruiting savant Brian Hartline gets his chance at calling plays with the promotion to OC. 

    3. OLine coach Justin Frye also left for the NFL, taking the OLine coach job for the Arizona Cardinals. One one hand, Frye did a very good job developing linemen during his time in Columbus. Lost in the national title run is just how decimated the OLine was during the playoff run. An argument could be made that they made that run missing their two best OLinemen. But on the other hand, Frye was not a dynamic recruiter. He struggled getting quality AND quantity regarding high school recruits. Too often Ohio State would miss out on top recruits, and too often his recruiting classes were small, hence why the Buckeyes have had to depend on the transfer portal so much lately. (There two new starting tackles next year could be new transfers). Ohio has a very good OLine crop, and hopefully the new OLine coach can grab as many of them as possible. Who is the new OLine coach, you ask?

    4. The new OLine coach is Tyler Bowen, from Virginia Tech and previously Penn State. He is a former college OLineman, and is considered an excellent recruiter. At Penn State, he was successful in recruiting many highly regarded high school OLinemen that had very good careers at Happy Valley, and apparently he had a hand in recruiting a three star TE from Virginia that is very popular on this board with a few of us - Tyler Warren. Time will tell if he's as good of a developmental coach as Frye, because if he is, he'll be a fantastic hire. 

    5. Speculation I've heard is that Day is waiting for the Super Bowl to be over so he can hire the Kansas City Chiefs DLine coach Joe Cullen as his new DCoordinator. He's coached under Steve Spagnolo for three seasons, and under John Harbaugh as his DLine coach in Baltimore for five seasons before that. Between the Ravens and Chiefs jobs, he was Urban Meyer's DCoordinator for one season in Jacksonville. Cullen has a long coaching history, but might be best known as the former coach with the Detroit Lions who struggled with alcohol problems and famously ended up in a Wendy's drive thru butt naked and black out drunk back in 2006. It isn't certain Cullen is getting the DC job, but it has been pretty quiet for about a week regarding it, so that kind of points to Cullen as being the guy. 

  • Canton DawgC Canton Dawg wrote on last edited by
    #2

    I think the Buckeyes will be just fine.

    IMG_0647.png

  • I think the Buckeyes will be just fine.

    IMG_0647.png

    tiamat63T tiamat63 wrote on last edited by
    #3

    @canton-dawg said:

    I think the Buckeyes will be just fine.

    IMG_0647.png

    Some drawbacks here. 

     The 2006 and 2007 defenses were overinflated from a schedule of favorable offenses that couldn't properly exploit the defensive liabilities.  Until it was end of the season and post-season when the weakness was exposed.  

     The 2008 group saw a significant re-tooling mid season and ended up becoming a great squad that lead right into the fantastic 2009 & 2010 unit. 

     To say that losing Knowles can and will be easily overcome is an overstatement.  There may be some rough patches in transition as new language, designs and call preferences are installed then executed.  Takes time to build these sort of things.   

     On the flip side, I expect similar growing pains year 1 or so at Penn State for Knowles as well. 

  • MLD WoodyM MLD Woody wrote on last edited by
    #4
    The Silver Bulletin@tSilverBulletin
    Rumors are circulating that longtime NFL coach Matt Patricia could be Ohio State’s next defensive coordinator.

    The Belichick defensive disciple has won three Super Bowls but hasn’t coached in college since 2003.

    Would be a fascinating hire, if it comes to fruition.

    That would be interesting 

  • Dutch OvenD Dutch Oven wrote on last edited by
    #5

    Matt Patricia is a Grade A asshole. 

    He's also the new Defensive Coordinator for Ohio State. 

  • Matt Patricia is a Grade A asshole. 

    He's also the new Defensive Coordinator for Ohio State. 

    Browns149B Browns149 wrote on last edited by
    #6

    @dutch-oven said:

    Matt Patricia is a Grade A asshole. 

    He's also the new Defensive Coordinator for Ohio State. 

    Albert Belle was a Grade A asshole, but he was DAMN GOOD. 

    Patricia is a NFL coach and should get players to transfer to OSU 

  • Dutch OvenD Dutch Oven wrote on last edited by
    #7

    New OLine coach Tyler Bowen has just nabbed the #1 Ohio OLineman in Maxwell Riley, a tackle from Avon Lake. He's a four star recruit in a very good OLine recruiting class for the state. 

  • Matt Patricia is a Grade A asshole. 

    He's also the new Defensive Coordinator for Ohio State. 

    FlugelF Flugel wrote on last edited by Flugel
    #8

    @dutch-oven said:

    Matt Patricia is a Grade A asshole. 

    He's also the new Defensive Coordinator for Ohio State. 

    ? It's been said and sang: "you gotta be cruel to be kind..."   

    John Cooper was a nice guy; but where did that get him at Ohio State?

  • Dutch OvenD Dutch Oven wrote on last edited by
    #9

    New OLine coach Tyler Bowen has done it again, as four star OTackle prospect Sam Greer from Akron Hoban has committed to play for Ohio State. 

    This is a very good OLine recruiting class in Ohio, and Ohio State has seemingly got the top two. 

  • @dutch-oven said:

    Matt Patricia is a Grade A asshole. 

    He's also the new Defensive Coordinator for Ohio State. 

    ? It's been said and sang: "you gotta be cruel to be kind..."   

    John Cooper was a nice guy; but where did that get him at Ohio State?

    sydS syd wrote on last edited by
    #10

    @flugel said:

    John Cooper was a nice guy; but where did that get him at Ohio State?

    I know i have mentioned this before, after a rare Cooper win over the ttun we were drinking beers outside of the stadium and Coop drove by waving to us,,it was cool

  • Dutch OvenD Dutch Oven wrote on last edited by
    #11

    The Buckeyes got another verbal commit today, and this one is a bit of a shocker.

    Five star safety Blaine Bradford is from Baton Rouge, Louisiana and has an older brother in LSU's 2025 recruiting class.

    The 6'1, 200lb safety will be a tough keep until early signing day in December. 

  • The Buckeyes got another verbal commit today, and this one is a bit of a shocker.

    Five star safety Blaine Bradford is from Baton Rouge, Louisiana and has an older brother in LSU's 2025 recruiting class.

    The 6'1, 200lb safety will be a tough keep until early signing day in December. 

    FlugelF Flugel wrote on last edited by
    #12

    @dutch-oven said:

    The Buckeyes got another verbal commit today, and this one is a bit of a shocker.

    Five star safety Blaine Bradford is from Baton Rouge, Louisiana and has an older brother in LSU's 2025 recruiting class.

    The 6'1, 200lb safety will be a tough keep until early signing day in December. 

    Interesting guy to keep an eye on.  Maybe his older brother can get to the transfer portal and make this even more interesting. 

  • Dutch OvenD Dutch Oven wrote on last edited by Dutch Oven
    #13

    https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-state-football-recruiting/2025/04/155602/four-star-2026-safety-simeon-caldwell-commits-to-ohio-state

    Ohio State gets another top safety, secondary coach Tim Walton's nephew Simeon Caldwell, a four star recruit from Florida. 

  • Dutch OvenD Dutch Oven wrote on last edited by
    #14

    Ohio State added probably the best DE in the transfer portal Wednesday night, North Carolina's Beau Atkinson, a former four star recruit.

    While OSU has lost their two starting DEs to the draft, they now have a pretty deep room.

    https://www.cleveland.com/osu/2025/04/how-beau-atkinsons-transfer-commitment-impacts-ohio-state-footballs-2025-defense.html

  • Ohio State added probably the best DE in the transfer portal Wednesday night, North Carolina's Beau Atkinson, a former four star recruit.

    While OSU has lost their two starting DEs to the draft, they now have a pretty deep room.

    https://www.cleveland.com/osu/2025/04/how-beau-atkinsons-transfer-commitment-impacts-ohio-state-footballs-2025-defense.html

    FlugelF Flugel wrote on last edited by
    #15

    @dutch-oven said:

    Ohio State added probably the best DE in the transfer portal Wednesday night, North Carolina's Beau Atkinson, a former four star recruit.

    While OSU has lost their two starting DEs to the draft, they now have a pretty deep room.

    https://www.cleveland.com/osu/2025/04/how-beau-atkinsons-transfer-commitment-impacts-ohio-state-footballs-2025-defense.html

    Great to see Dutch while 2 of their National Champion DEs are probably going to get drafted no later than Friday Night...

  • @dutch-oven said:

    Ohio State added probably the best DE in the transfer portal Wednesday night, North Carolina's Beau Atkinson, a former four star recruit.

    While OSU has lost their two starting DEs to the draft, they now have a pretty deep room.

    https://www.cleveland.com/osu/2025/04/how-beau-atkinsons-transfer-commitment-impacts-ohio-state-footballs-2025-defense.html

    Great to see Dutch while 2 of their National Champion DEs are probably going to get drafted no later than Friday Night...

    Dutch OvenD Dutch Oven wrote on last edited by Dutch Oven
    #16

    @flugel said:

    Great to see Dutch while 2 of their National Champion DEs are probably going to get drafted no later than Friday Night...

    Yeah, that sounds about right.  This Atkinson kid seems to be a Jack Sawyer type of DE, he should be a strong side DE. I think he’s like 6’5, 265lbs.

  • MLD WoodyM MLD Woody wrote on last edited by
    #17

    Atkinson is very solid. That's a good pickup. Though I'm a little surprised there's not just another 5* ready to go. Though could be more of a rotation