After celebrating their National Championship victory, Ohio State has suffered a significant blow to its coaching staff, losing star defensive coordinator Jim Knowles to Big Ten rival Penn State. Now after winning the title, the Buckeyes have also lost their offensive coordinator, Chip Kelly, who is returning to the NFL after accepting the offensive coordinator position with the Las Vegas Raiders. Kelly’s move marks the end of a short but impactful tenure at Ohio State.
Photo Cred: Silver and Black Pride
After spending six seasons as the head coach at UCLA, Kelly spent just one season as the Buckeyes’ offensive coordinator, helping lead them to their first National Championship since 2014. Now, Kelly joins newly appointed Raiders head coach Pete Carroll as the offensive coordinator in Las Vegas. Kelly’s lucrative deal will see him earning $6 million annually, making him the highest-paid coordinator in the NFL. In comparison, he made just over $2 million per year while calling plays for Ohio State. Kelly’s departure is the latest in a series of coaching losses for the Buckeyes.
Along with Kelly, Ohio State also lost offensive line coach Justin Frye, who accepted the offensive line coach position with the Arizona Cardinals. These coaching departures highlight the challenges that come with success—when a team wins big, it often becomes a target for rivals looking to poach top talent. While Ohio State might be reeling from the losses, head coach Ryan Day is taking the situation in stride. Day and Kelly have a long history together, having grown up in the same part of New Hampshire.
Day also played for Kelly at the University of New Hampshire and coached under him in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers during the 2010s. Their reunion in Columbus for the 2024 season was a special moment, and Day seems genuinely pleased for his friend’s opportunity to return to the NFL. Day shared that the pair’s goal all along was to win a National Championship and then allow Kelly to pursue a high-profile NFL job.
Photo Cred: Raiders.com
“Our dream was to win a National Championship, then Chip would have the chance to return to the NFL,” Day said on the Joel Klatt Show. “Our plan worked out perfectly—one year, and we got it done.” Day went on to express how special it would be to look back on their shared success in the future: “To be able to have a beer in a few years and talk about the year that we had together is going to be special… We went and did that. What a great story.”
While Day’s friendship with Kelly remains strong, the departure of three key assistants—Knowles, Kelly, and Frye—presents a challenge for the Buckeyes as they look to maintain their success in 2025. With these pivotal coaching positions now open, Day must balance recruiting efforts with the urgent need to hire replacements to fill the vacancies on his coaching staff. One obvious internal candidate to fill the offensive coordinator role is wide receivers coach and co-offensive coordinator Brian Hartline.
Hartline has been with Ohio State since 2017, having also played for the Buckeyes as a wide receiver from 2006 to 2008. After seven seasons in the NFL, Hartline returned to Ohio State, where he has developed some of the nation’s top wide receivers. Over the past three seasons, Hartline has helped four wide receivers from Ohio State go in the first round of the NFL Draft, including Jameson Williams (who transferred to Alabama) and Emeka Egbuka, a projected first- to second-round pick this year. Hartline’s work with receivers, including standout freshman Jerimiah Smith, has been exceptional.
However, it remains to be seen how the Buckeyes will fill the other key coaching spots left vacant by Knowles and Frye’s departures. Whether Day promotes from within or looks to external candidates, whoever takes over these roles will have big shoes to fill. Despite the coaching changes, Ohio State is still stacked with talent. While they will undoubtedly lose several top players to the NFL Draft, the Buckeyes boast a deep roster of capable backups ready to step into starting roles.
Photo Cred: MSN
The new coaches, whoever they may be, will have plenty of talent to work with as they look to build on the momentum of the 2024 championship season. Ohio State’s ability to replace their coaching staff while maintaining the program’s elite level of play will be key as they look to defend their National Championship in 2025. With Ryan Day at the helm, the Buckeyes’ future remains bright, even as they navigate these significant changes to their coaching staff.
