Tag: Al Washington

Al Washington headed to Notre Dame

Looks like there will be another former Buckeye headed back to the ‘Shoe for the first game of 2022. #GoBucks

Former Ohio State linebackers Al Washington is headed to Notre Dame to join Marcus Freeman’s staff according to news first reported by ESPN. He is expected to join the team on the defensive side of the ball as the run game coordinator. Other reports have since confirmed the hire.

Washington was a recent casualty of all the moves on the defensive side of the ball by head coach Ryan Day over the last few weeks. With Jim Knowles taking over as the defensive coordinator in Columbus, there has been a domino effect of current staff members moving on from the program, Washington being one of them.

So now, the first game of the season in 2022 takes on even more significance. Not only will former Ohio State linebacker Marcus Freeman be making a return to Columbus after some eyebrow-raising comments, but Washington will also be in tow.

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Sources: Notre Dame to hire Al Washington as defensive line coach

Solid hire for the Irish?

As if the Marcus Freeman connection to Ohio State wasn’t enough for Notre Dame’s 2022 season opener, how about some more former Buckeyes? Specifically, recent Buckeyes linebackers coach Al Washington. With Mike Elston having left for Michigan, the Irish suddenly had a vacancy for defensive line coach. According to Pete Thamel of ESPN, the Irish are hiring Washington to fill that vacancy and also become their defensive run coordinator:

Although not nearly as consequential compared to the game in Columbus, senior day at Notre Dame Stadium promises to hold significance for Washington. On that day, the Irish will play Boston College, where he coached for five years. He spent two nonconsecutive seasons as the Eagles’ defensive line coach with three seasons as the running backs coach in between. During his first season with that program, he also was an assistant special teams coach.

It won’t be easy to replace Elston, but we hope Washington has an admirable attempt to do so.

Al Washington not returning to Ohio State

Ryan Day continues to mold his defensive staff after the 2021 season. #GoBucks

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day is reshaping his defensive staff, and it’s coming at a rather dizzying pace. Gone already are Matt Barnes and Kerry Coombs, and you can also add linebackers coach Al Washington to the mix according to multiple reports. The move comes as a result of the hiring of defensive coordinator Jim Knowles who will also be responsible for coaching the linebackers.

Washington, a Columbus native, was lured away from the Michigan program in 2019, where he coached in 2018. Before that, he spent time at Boston College as an assistant from 2012-2016. He enjoyed three seasons as the linebackers coach on the banks of the Olentangy where he helped develop three linebackers that were taken in the NFL Draft (Baron Browning, Malik Harrison, and Pete Werner).

Ohio State Buckeyes linebackers coach Al Washington reacts after the defense gave up a touchdown during the fourth quarter of an NCAA Division I football game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Tulsa Golden Hurricane on Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021, at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. Credit: USA TODAY Sports

Washington has been instrumental on the recruiting trail, helping land several key defensive players in Columbus and was — and likely still is — known as a young, rising start in the coaching profession. It is unclear yet what his next move will be, but don’t be surprised if you hear his name emerge again at an elevated level in the college coaching ranks.

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Tennessee linebacker in the transfer portal set to visit Ohio State

Former four-star Tennessee linebacker Henry To’o To’o set to visit Ohio State this weekend after entering the transfer portal.

Ohio State will be heading into the 2021 football season with some unknowns. One of the biggest question marks will be at the linebacker position where the Bucks will be losing three starters and a fourth in Justin Hilliard who became a big-time contributor and also started at times.

The Buckeyes obviously have some very good options to replace Tuf Borland, Peter Werner, and Baron Browning. However, that pool of options might be getting a wee bit bigger.

After the Tennessee Volunteers fired Jeremy Pruitt in January, linebacker Henry To’o To’o put his name in the transfer portal. Since that time, linebacker coach Al Washington has stayed in constant contact To’o To’o. The soon-to-be transfer will be making a visit to Ohio State this weekend, April 2-4.

The De La Salle High School (California) product was rated as the No. 3 outside linebacker in the 2019 recruiting class and No. 44 overall player. To’o To’o has played in 23 games in two seasons with the Vols and tallied 148 tackles with 15 of those coming for a loss.

Alabama is also hot on the trail to land the linebacker’s services. However, the current SEC rules for intraconference transfers would require him to sit out for a year.

This could be a huge get for the Buckeyes and add depth to a position of need. We’ll keep you posted as we hear more.

Ohio State football 2022 recruiting commitment tracker

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Al Washington staying at Ohio State, turns down Tennessee defensive coordinator position

Ohio State assistant coach Al Washington has decided to stay at Ohio State and will not accept the defensive coordinator post at Tennessee.

According to multiple reports, Ohio State assistant coach Al Washington is staying with the Buckeye program and will not accept the role of defensive coordinator at Tennessee.

Reports surfaced earlier this week that new head coach Josh Heupel had zeroed in on Washington as the main priority target to run the defense in Knoxville as he continues to assemble his new staff. That then led to a ton of speculation on where things stood with the current OSU linebackers coach.

The decision by Washington was first reported by Dave Biddle of 247Sports, and then echoed throughout the college football community. It also appears that Ohio State may have sweetened the deal for Washington’s current post in Columbus with additional duties and a raise according to Lettermen Row’s Austin Ward, though nothing official has come from Ryan Day, Washington, or the university.

This now means that the Columbus native will enter his third year on staff with Ohio State after being airlifted out of Ann Arbor under Jim Harbaugh and Michigan.

Keeping Washington on staff is extremely good news for Ohio State. He has been a star on the recruiting trail and is one of the bright young coaches in college football. As soon as we get anything official we’ll have more on what all this means.

Ohio State linebackers coach Al Washington emerging as candidate for Tennessee defensive coordinator

According to Football Scoop, Tennesse is now zeroing in on Ohio State LB coach Al Washington as its potential defensive coordinator.

Having the type of success Ohio State enjoys on the football field often equates to opportunities for assistant coaches to take the next step with other programs. It’s the good and bad of being a college football behemoth in today’s world.

The Buckeyes just finished off a run to the national championship game and it appears as though linebackers coach Al Washington is emerging as the main target to head up the defense for new Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel. According to Football scoop and other sources, Washington is now the main priority to fill the position, just days after Ohio State had solidified its coaching staff with a couple of promotions to replace the retiring Greg Mattison.

There has been no word yet from Ohio State or Washington, but the search and zeroing in on the Columbus native has come as a bit of a surprise. He has served as the Buckeyes’ linebackers coach the last couple of seasons after defecting from behind enemy lines on Jim Harbaugh’s staff at Michigan.

We’ll keep an eye on this, but don’t expect any formal news to come to light on Super Sunday. The loss would be a perceived big one for the Buckeyes, especially given the timing and most especially the potential of the fiery assistant.

 

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Ohio State football coaches react on Twitter to parent letter to Big Ten

The Ohio State football coaches offered support on Twitter for a letter the players’ parents sent to the Big Ten and commish Kevin Warren.

The parents of Big Ten football players are getting restless. So far, the parents of Ohio State, Iowa, Nebraska, and Penn State have all sent letters to the Big Ten offices looking for answers to questions that have gone unaddressed with the postponement of the fall football season.

Clearly, the group of player parents aren’t happy about their sons not getting a chance to play the game they’ve worked so hard to prepare for, but it’s more than that.

It’s a recurring theme. The Big Ten and commissioner Kevin Warren have yet to address questions posed head-on, and instead have used generalities and no comment types of responses in the face of a situation that calls for direct dialogue.

In the case of Ohio State, it’s clear all of the administrators are aligned in wanting to play, but it has also stood with the Big Ten in a statement. And in case you wondered, yes, it’s okay to support the conference but still want to play the game that’s so much a part of the fabric of the O-H-I-O.

Despite somewhat toeing the company line, many of the Ohio State coaches have come out in support of the letter the parents sent to Warren and the Big Ten Saturday using the hashtag #Fight.

Here’s a look at some of the responses from the OSU coaching staff.

Next … Ohio State football coaches respond

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Ohio State football assistant Al Washington says OSU program is unique because of this …

Ohio State assistant Al Washington says there’s something that makes Ohio State football’s brotherhood unique compared to other programs.

Ohio State football assistant coach Al Washington is a Columbus native so he knew about the Buckeye program from simply being around it. I mean, if you go out in the rain, you’re going to get wet.

But he had really known the program from the inside until Ryan Day tapped him on the shoulder to leave Michigan – er, That Team Up North, and come join his staff in Columbus. Now he not only understands the program from what you see and hear around town, but he is now in the trenches and engrained in the DNA of the program.

He can compare programs too. He’s had stops at NC State as a grad assistant, and both Boston College and TTUN as an assistant coach in the major college arena. College coaches are always touring around at conventions and clinics too, so they get a peek behind the curtain at a lot of programs just from being in the coaching fraternity.

According to Washington, there’s one thing that’s awfully unique to the Ohio State program that he believes sets it apart. It came up when he was asked during media availability last week if the older guys in the linebacking corps are being pushed.

“That’s the competitive culture we have,” said Washington. “And I’ll say this though — and this is unique to Ohio State, at least in my experiences. They are being pushed, but unlike any other place, I think our older guys do a great job of helping the young guys. Like I could tell you the countless times Baron (Browning) is working with somebody, or Tuf’s working with somebody, Pete’s working with somebody. And that really is unique, and I think that speaks to the brotherhood.”

Now we won’t say where that might not be happening, and I’m sure this goes on at other programs Washington has not gotten to experience, but we hear countless times about the family atmosphere at Ohio State, and this is just one more example.

It would be interesting to get Greg Mattison’s take on this too. He’s been around the block a time or two and inside multiple programs and you wonder if he sees the same thing.

 

* Lori Schmidt contributed to this story.

 

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Michigan downplays two former coaches coming to town with Ohio State

If there’s any ill-will towards the two Wolverines coaches defecting to OSU, you wouldn’t know it this week.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — You’d think with Michigan set to play its arch-rival on Saturday that there would be a war of words, especially given some of the circumstances.

However, there’s been a level of cordiality leading up to The Game against Ohio State, if not outright willful ignorance in some regard.

Yes, Michigan has acknowledged that it’s been a long while since it has beaten OSU, as has it regarded what happened last year in Columbus. Perhaps it’s an attempt to avoid bulletin board material for a team it doesn’t want to get any more fired up, particularly because the Wolverines already have a quiet reason to be angrier than usual heading into the final Saturday of November.

That’s because two former Michigan coaches inexplicably left the program this offseason in favor of joining the Buckeyes. It’s not unprecedented — famed head coach Bo Schembechler was once an assistant there, and Gary Moeller was an Ohio State team captain. Current offensive line coach Ed Warinner won national championship in Columbus in the same role, and that’s the hope for two former Wolverines coaches who are now coaching under Ryan Day.

Former linebackers coach Al Washington’s lateral move made all the sense in the world. He was the son of a former Buckeyes captain himself and grew up in Columbus revering all things scarlet and grey. But Greg Mattison, the former defensive line coach turned OSU co-defensive coordinator? His turn of the coat shocked the college football world when WolverinesWire broke the news back in January.

So, if Michigan has any hard feelings — and it indicated it did back in the spring — it’s being awfully quiet about it now.

Jim Harbaugh was asked what it would be like to face his two former assistants wearing enemy colors on Saturday and he quickly demurred, praising the job Day has done since taking over the program this offseason.

“I think Ryan Day has done a tremendous job and I think his coaching staff has done a tremendous job coaching this team,” Harbaugh said. “They’re one heckuva good football team. It’s a challenge, in terms of the preparation during the week. We’ve been doing it and attacking it and feel confident right now, feel good. Excited to get on the field and practice.”

That attitude was reflected by the players as well.

Defensive tackle Carlo Kemp has to face his former mentor in Mattison on Saturday, having played for him for three years before watching him join his archenemy. But, like Harbaugh, he isn’t taking any of the bait.

“Nothing really changes except they’ve got very good coaches, but at the same time, we’ve got very good coaches as well,” Kemp said. “Everybody in that meeting room and everybody that’s been with us — since January, since camp, since spring ball — they’ve been working for this, they’ve been thinking about this game. It’s a huge opportunity. Everybody in there is ready to go.

“Being able to be a part of this with the coaches I have in my room and the coaches that I have every day at practice, going out there and playing for them, that’s what gets you excited to this game. Getting to go out there with everybody that’s been here and is ready to go for this game.”

Fellow team captain Khaleke Hudson is in similar territory.

Washington was the Wolverines linebackers coach a year ago, and now Hudson has to see him on the opposite sideline this time around.

He harbors no ill-will towards the former Wolverines coach, and is more focused on the task at-hand rather than sending some kind of message.

At least, that’s what’s being said publicly.

“Ultimately, it’s their life, it’s their decision,” “I don’t hold anything against them. They decided to go to there. They had to make decisions for themselves and for their families. I got nothing but the most utmost respect for both of them guys. It’s gonna be good — it’s gonna feel good playing against them. They went to Ohio State — I’m not really focused on that. I’m just focused on the team, what we’ve gotta do. How we’re going to practice and how we’re going to prepare to get ready to get a victory on Saturday.”

Certainly, this Michigan team won’t be without motivation when the Buckeyes enter The Big House on Saturday, even if it is downplaying some of the key storylines in that regard.

Kickoff is slated for noon EST and the game will be broadcast nationally on FOX.

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