When Ryan Day first became the head coach of the Ohio State football team, he had some growing pains when it came to hiring assistant coaches. It took him a while to figure out what makes a good hire at coordinator and position coach. Now, the Buckeyes have a great set of assistant coaches.
One of Day's previous coaches was Perry Eliano. Eliano was the safeties coach for the Ohio State Buckeyes from 2022-2023. He was let go following the 2023 season. That's when Day hired Matt Guerrieri to take over at that spot, and that has been a great hire.
After Eliano was let go by Day, he ended up moving to Toledo to become the defensive back coach for the Rockets. After spending a couple of seasons with the Rockets, the former Ohio State coach has now been hired by Syracuse to be their defensive backs coach.
Former Ohio State coach Perry Eliano hired by Syracuse
Eliano has bounced back and forth from various programs as a coach in the secondary. He hasn't been able to be elevated to a defensive coordinator spot since the 2017 season, when he was with Bowling Green. He is at least back with a Power 4 school again.
The Buckeyes have been just fine without Eliano. They won a national championship last season and are primed to do so again this year. Eliano hasn't been able to recreate the same level of success he had with the Buckeyes. He hasn't been able to be at the same level.
Day has done a great job with his hires since his early tenure as head coach. Bringing in Chip Kelly as offensive coordinator last season and bringing Matt Patricia to coordinate the defense this season have been his two best hires to date. He has learned a lot when it comes to hiring assistants.