With success comes the unintended side-effect of losing good assistant coaches, and it’s no different with the Ohio State football program. The confetti was barely done falling in Mercedes-Benz Stadium before OSU defensive coordinator, Jim Knowles left to man the same post at Penn State. His direction of the defense helped the Buckeyes to their first national title since 2014, including a win over Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, and the news didn’t stop there.
According to multiple reports, it looks like Ryan Day will be looking to fill another job opening on staff with the departure of offensive line coach, Justin Frye, who is set to become the offensive line coach with the Arizona Cardinals of the NFL.
Frye often felt the ire of Ohio State fans and media with his perceived lack of blue-chip recruits on the offensive line, but there’s no denying his role with this year’s offensive line, which multiple injuries that resulted in a juggling of the line, and the resulting high level of play through the end of the season. Frye came to Columbus in 2022 and has sent two NFL offensive tackles to the NFL, Paris Johnson Jr. and Dawand Jones. Three OSU linemen are expected to go in this year’s NFL draft.
Sources: Ohio State offensive line coach Justin Frye is expected to become the offensive line coach of the Arizona Cardinals. Frye is a veteran OL coach with stops at UCLA, Boston College and Temple. Frye was also offensive coordinator during his time at UCLA under Chip Kelly. pic.twitter.com/QFEFL9HTC4
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) February 1, 2025
Former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer often said that continuing to keep a staff together with all of the movement after success was one of the most tiring things he dealt with in Columbus, and it looks like Day is beginning to feel that pain as well.
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This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: Ohio State football offensive line coach Justin Frye leaving for NFL
