Ohio State made the right decision to promote James Laurinaitis to linebackers coach to become full-time

Ohio State made the inevitable decision to make former player James Laurinaitis a member of the coaching staff officially. After serving as a graduate assistant for one season, Laurinaitis will now be one of the 10 full-time coaches on the Buckeyes’ staff. The former Buckeye player himself will now coach linebackers at Ohio State. Laurinaitis […]

Brandon Little — Ohio State Buckeyes & Cleveland Browns News Writer
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Ohio State Buckeyes assistant coach James Laurinaitis warms up his team prior to the NCAA football game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium.
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch-USA TODAY NETWORK

Ohio State made the inevitable decision to make former player James Laurinaitis a member of the coaching staff officially.

After serving as a graduate assistant for one season, Laurinaitis will now be one of the 10 full-time coaches on the Buckeyes’ staff. The former Buckeye player himself will now coach linebackers at Ohio State.

Laurinaitis takes the place of fired special teams coach Parker Fleming. Prior to Laurinaitis taking over linebackers, defensive coordinator Jim Knowles had run the linebackers group.

From 2005-2008, Laurinaitis starred for the Buckeyes as a linebacker and was one of the best in school history. He won the Lott Trophy, Butkus Award, Jack Lambert Trophy twice, and was a three-time All-American.

Before coming over to Ohio State, Laurinaitis was on the coaching staff at Notre Dame for the 2022 season. 

Now, Tim Walton, Brian Hartline, and Laurinaitis are all on the staff as former Buckeyes.

It was a move that Ohio State had to make, as Laurinaitis is already a factor in recruiting and his success in the NFL is only going to be a bonus to Ohio State. Laurinaitis is ready to be a full-time staffer and the Buckeyes knew that, it was bring him on or lose him to someone else eventually.