Ohio State Football: Three candidates to take over play-calling duties

2. Garrett Riley

Yes, he’s related to that Riley. He is the younger brother of Lincoln Riley, the head coach at USC. Garrett is currently the offensive coordinator at TCU, where he just helped guide the Horned Frogs to the National Championship Game in his first year as their coordinator.

Last year, Riley was the coordinator for SMU where Sonny Dykes also was. 2022 is only the second year that he’s been calling plays, so he’d be a little green for a big job like Ohio State. Yet, the results speak for themselves. He is the coordinator of a team playing for a national title.

Riley is also extremely young. He’s only 33 years old and still has a lot to prove. Still, he has the pedigree so far and has the genetics from his brother. It would also be a pretty big gamble for a program this big to get on someone like Riley.

Would Riley leave for his third program in as many years? It’s tough to say. Giving him a lot of money would certainly make it harder to say no. It would be the most ambitious hire that Ryan Day has made as a head coach too. It’s the type of hire that if it goes wrong could get him fired.

I tend to think that this would be a stretch to do, but Riley is an up-and-coming candidate. If Ohio State doesn’t make a move to get him, someone else will. It’s only a matter of time before Riley is off to a bigger and better program where he can accomplish more at.