Ohio State Football: Win-Win as OSU poaches Michigan coaches
By Chris Bruns
New head coach Ryan Day has given the Ohio State defensive coaching staff a thorough house cleaning — and dinged his chief rivals to the north in the process.
The coaching carousel continues to spin on the defensive side of the ball at Ohio State.
After announcing a few big changes to the staff yesterday — including the promotion of legendary defensive line coach Larry Johnson to Associate Head Coach and the hiring of NFL DB guru Jeff Hafley and Michigan DL coach Greg Mattison to run the defense — reports surfaced that Ryan Day lured Michigan LB coach Al Washington back to Columbus.
Sure enough, coach Day officially announced the news in a press release and he had to say this about his new assistant.
"“Al Washington is going to be a terrific addition to our coaching staff,” Day said. “I’ve known him as player and as a coach and I know his family very well. I think his familiarity with this region as a coach and as a recruiter is going to be very impactful, as will his leadership with our linebackers unit.”"
Washington is a Columbus native whose father played at OSU under Woody Hayes. He’d just completed his first year in Ann Arbor after a stint in Cincinnati, and coached at Boston College where he played his college ball.
Washington was almost single-handedly responsible for putting a scare into Buckeye fans after he nearly lured 5-star Columbus DE Zach Harrison to the Wolverines. Harrison eventually signed with the home town team.
While Washington’s recruiting skills and defensive acumen should be a step up from the man he replaces — the much maligned Bill Davis, whose close personal relationship with Urban Meyer and consistently underperforming units made him the object of scorn for many OSU fans — his hiring also accomplishes another important thing for Ohio State.
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It weakens the Wolverines.
Both Mattison and Washington were a big part of a Michigan defense that was ranked best in the country coming into the matchup with Ohio State. Now, they’ve both defected to their former employer’s biggest rival — giving life to the phrase, “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.”
While the two men are obviously very different, they are both relentless recruiters with the ability to connect with today’s players, as well as excellent coaches who have consistently turned out NFL level prospects.
Mattison recruited Tim Tebow to Florida, and landed five stars like Rashan Gary and Julius Peppers for the Wolverines. Washington developed Devin Bush into a likely first round pick this year.
Next. Who's staying, who's leaving for the NFL. dark
But for OSU fans, the best part about their hirings may be sticking it to That Team Up North and its leader, Jim Harbaugh.