Ohio State was reportedly turned down by an SEC coach who the Buckeyes wanted to be their next defensive coordinator
Ohio State suffered quite a bit of departure from their coaching staff after the National Championship win over Notre Dame. The Buckeyes have taken care of filling rules that opened up for the most part, however, defensive coordinator is one job that remains open since Jim Knowles left for Penn State about a couple of […]
Ohio State suffered quite a bit of departure from their coaching staff after the National Championship win over Notre Dame.
The Buckeyes have taken care of filling rules that opened up for the most part, however, defensive coordinator is one job that remains open since Jim Knowles left for Penn State about a couple of weeks ago.
Ohio State has reportedly tried to fill that role already and has been turned down. According to Brian Stultz of Rivals, Ohio State offered Auburn DC D.J. Durkin and tried to pry him away from the Tigers. However, Auburn came with a pay raise for Durkin to stay.
Durkin had his initial deal extended by a season and he will now make up to $2.5 million in 2025, which would make him tied for the second-highest-paid defensive coordinator behind only Knowles at Penn State. The $2.5 million mark would be tied with Michigan’s Wink Martindale.
Ohio State and Durkin have crossed paths before with his past stops in the Big Ten. The 47-year-old was Michigan’s defensive coordinator in 2015 and the head coach at Maryland from 2016 through 2018. Durkin served in a consultant role in 2019 with the Atlanta Falcons before being named the co-defensive coordinator at Ole Miss where he stayed the next two years.
Ohio State has internal options like safeties coach Matt Guerreri and cornerbacks coach Tim Walton to promote to defensive coordinator. Even if the Buckeyes choose to go that route in replacing Knowles, they still may want to add an extra staffer to the defense.
Expect Ohio State to get the search figured out by the end of the week, as spring football will be here before we know it, and recruiting never stops.
