Former Ohio State Football players could be building future recruiting pipelines

Several former Ohio State football players are preparing for their first seasons of leading high school programs in the state of Ohio. Both Stanley Jackson and Chase Farris will be able to call themselves head coaches after the 2023 high school football season kicks off next month.

Jackson, who played quarterback for the Ohio State football team under John Cooper for four seasons, was known as a dual-threat passer who helped the Buckeyes win the Big 10 Conference and a Rose Bowl in 1996. Now he will be bringing his experience and creative play-calling skills to the Westerville North Warriors, who are coming off a 3-8 season. Jackson has a pair of sons leading his team this year at quarterback and running back.

Jackson played five seasons in the Canadian Football League following his time at Ohio State. He also spent time in the media working for the Big Ten Network as well, developing many great relationships with other former Buckeyes who now help to fill out his coaching staff at Westerville North. Former Buckeyes Chris Wells, Winfield Garnett, Reggie Germany, Ashanti Webb, and Paris Long have all decided to lend a helping hand in rebuilding the Warriors Football program.

“Part of my job was not just coming along,” Jackson told ABC6 in Columbus, Ohio. “It was to build a unique coaching staff that could speak to many different things around the game of football. Most lessons that I use now in life, I learned from football. The lessons you learn between the white lines translate to life.”

The Warriors play in Division I, Region 3 of the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s Ohio Capitol Conference.

Jackson isn’t the only former Ohio State football player embarking on his inaugural season as a high school football coach. Up in Elyria, Ohio at Elyria Catholic High School, Farris will be doing the same, and much like Jackson, his coaching staff has an Ohio State feel to it.

Farris hired 2006 Heisman trophy winner and Cleveland, Ohio native Troy Smith to be his offensive coordinator, and Doran Grant was named as the Strength and Conditioning Coach as well as the Defensive Coordinator.

“Having that brotherhood, having those individuals you can call on when times get tough like Doran (Grant) who was my roommate (at Ohio State) for four years, being in the trenches, being in the foxhole with those individuals, to have them as part of the staff is an overwhelming joy right now,” Farris explained when asked about having his former teammates at Ohio State on his coaching staff.

Farris played both on the offensive and defensive line during different times of his career at Ohio State from 2011 through 2015. He was a significant part of the 2014 National Championship team as one of the first offensive linemen off of the bench that season, totaling 169 snaps. Following his time in Columbus, he was on the practice squad with the New England Patriots when they won Super Bowl LI in 2017.

Now Farris brings that winning experience to a program that is used to winning themselves. The Panthers play in Division IV, Region 14 of the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s Great Lakes Conference and have won three state championships with the last being in 1984.

Keep an eye on these former Buckeyes as they lead their respected high schools in 2023. With talented men like them leading these programs, it will only be a matter of time before we hear about some of their top talent being recruited by Ohio State.