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Ohio State Football, Matt Barnes separation good for all involved

By Ryan Stano

Ohio State Buckeyes secondary coach Matt Barnes calls a play from the sideline during the NCAA football game against the Indiana Hoosiers at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Ind. on Sunday, Oct. 24, 2021. Ohio State won 54-7.Ohio State Buckeyes At Indiana Hoosiers
Ohio State Buckeyes secondary coach Matt Barnes calls a play from the sideline during the NCAA football game against the Indiana Hoosiers at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Ind. on Sunday, Oct. 24, 2021. Ohio State won 54-7.Ohio State Buckeyes At Indiana Hoosiers /
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The Ohio State football team played their final game of the 2021 season on Saturday in the Rose Bowl, beating Utah 48-45. It was also the last game that Matt Barnes coached in as a part of Ohio State’s staff. The interim defensive coordinator is now headed to Memphis.

It was best for both parties that Barnes leave Ohio State. While he did improve the defense from the disaster that it was in the first month of the season, there were still too many lapses. The defense was horrendous against TTUN and again against Utah. It was time for a change.

With Barnes now gone, it looks like Jim Knowles will have total control of the defense moving forward. Barnes leaving could also be a sign that Kerry Coombs has been retained as secondary coach, but that’s something that hasn’t been confirmed yet.

Bringing Coombs back would be strictly for recruiting purposes and coaching up the defensive backs. He can’t coordinate an entire defense, but he can recruit some really good players in the secondary. That recruiting might prove too valuable to let him go.

While I may question his recruiting skills as of late, letting Barnes go clearly means that they value Coombs over Barnes right now. This is better for Barnes too. Now he gets a chance to coordinate a defense solely by himself for an entire season and see how he does.

The Ohio State football program is at a crossroads. They narrowly avoided having the worst season since 2011 by beating Utah. That’s not the standard in Columbus though. The standard is competing for national championships every single year, and Ryan Day knows that.

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We’ll see how Knowles does with this defense in 2022. What I can say is that it can’t be any worse than they were in 2021.

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