Ohio State Buckeyes have lost another coach from Ryan Day’s staff to the SEC ahead of the College Football Playoff beginning

College football coaching turnover happens every season and Ohio State knows that first hand.

Brandon Little — Ohio State Buckeyes & Cleveland Browns News Writer
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The Ohio State Buckeyes, like every other team in the College Football Playoff, will have to deal with roster and coaching turnover while preparing for the biggest games of the season. 

Ohio State already knows that Brian Hartline will be heading to South Florida after the season. Assistant offensive line coach Marcus Johnson is taking a job with Arkansas, and now the Buckeyes have another assistant heading to the SEC. 

Ohio State to lose an assistant to the Kentucky Wildcats 

According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Ohio State’s program assistant for the defensive line, Tony Washington Jr., is heading to Kentucky. Washington will be the defensive line coach under new Kentucky head coach Will Stein, who took the job after coming over from Oregon. Washington was the outside linebackers coach at Oregon in 2023, where he worked with Stein.

Washington is the key assistant for the defensive line under Larry Johnson, as he took over for LaAllan Clark, who left for the Texas Longhorns after last season. Before coming to Ohio State, Washington worked with the defensive line and outside linebackers at UCLA during the 2024 season. Washington got his coaching start with Nebraska as a graduate assistant in 2019. Washington played on the Ducks’ defensive line from 2011 to 2014.

Coaching turnover isn’t something that is new to Ryan Day, and the Buckeyes will navigate it over the next month or two. Ohio State already had to find a new offensive coordinator and wide receiver coach, and that’ll be their biggest task. On the field, the Buckeyes will be back in action on Dec. 31 against the winner of Miami and Texas A&M.

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