As Ohio State prepares to face Utah in the Rose Bowl tomorrow, another program is reportedly targeting a Buckeye assistant to be its new defensive coordinator.
According to Brandon Marcello of 247Sports, Memphis is looking to hire Ohio State secondary coach Matt Barnes to run its defense. Barnes has been on Ryan Day’s staff at OSU for the last three seasons, working as a special teams coordinator for two years and as the program’s safeties coach in 2020 before taking over the entire secondary this fall.
In September, Barnes took over the defensive play-calling after Day demoted defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs. Without question, this experienced helped Barnes’ candidacy with Memphis.
Memphis has targeted Ohio State secondary coach Matt Barnes for defensive coordinator, sources tell @247Sports. Barnes assumed play-calling duties for #Buckeyes in late September after Kerry Coombs was demoted. #Buckeyes play #Utes in Rose Bowl. https://t.co/g8JoeQo9Qi pic.twitter.com/hHfGXoj7dw
— Brandon Marcello (@bmarcello) December 31, 2021
Earlier this month, Ohio State hired Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles to the same position for the 2022 season. Knowles will assume his new role on January 2.
Meanwhile, it will be Barnes calling the shots in Pasadena tomorrow in what figures to be his last game with the Buckeyes.
Ohio State and Utah will kick off at 5 p.m. ET tomorrow on ESPN.
The post Report: Ohio State Assistant Targeted For Defensive Coordinator Job appeared first on The Spun.