Earlier in the offseason, Ryan Day made a couple of crucial decisions for the Ohio State football team. He decided to hire Arthur Smith as the new offensive coordinator after Brian Hartline took the head coaching job at South Florida. Smith will now coach in college for the first time in a while.
Day also made the decision to bring Matt Patricia back as the defensive coordinator. He helped the Buckeyes have the top defense in the country last season. They led the nation in almost every statistical category. That was clearly the correct move for Day to make.
Usually, when late June and early July roll around, the additions to the coaching staff are finished. However, the Ohio State Buckeyes have decided to bring someone else onto the staff just a few weeks before practice begins, which is highly unusual.
Ohio State football team hires Andy Howell as a college scout
According to ESPN's Pete Thamel, the Buckeyes have hired Andy Howell as a college scout. Howell has worked in the NFL for 14 years. He has worked for the Dolphins most recently. Now, he will move down to the collegiate level and will be someone who helps them when it comes to the Transfer Portal.
Howell becomes the 12th full-time hire for the Buckeyes on staff. With the portal becoming an ever more important part of Ohio State's roster construction, they need someone who can help identify players. That's why they are bringing Howell into the fold.
Day has evolved over the years in terms of his coaching style. He has made sure that he has kept up with the times in the NIL era, and that includes the Transfer Portal. Using every possible resource to improve the roster construction of the team is his job, and Day is doing it well.
Andy Howell will help the Ohio State football program next offseason
Most of Howell's value will come next offseason when the portal opens. The Buckeyes will use him to figure out which players they should go after in the portal. That is when he will show his value to the roster. It's well worth it for him to be on the coaching staff so he can help Day out.
It's a little strange that the Buckeyes have brought him in so late in the offseason. Howell hasn't been doing much for his NFL team in the last few months during the offseason. Now, Howell will be in charge of watching a lot of players across the country.
Day still wants his roster primarily built through the high school recruiting ranks, which has been evident with how the coaching staff has been recruiting in the last month or so. Ohio State is going to have one of the best recruiting classes in the country by the time the 2027 cycle ends.
Ohio State isn't going to change its entire philosophy overnight. Yet, the portal is clearly going to become a bigger part of Ohio State's roster construction.
Add us as a preferred source on Google