Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day announced that adjustments would be made to his coaching staff this offseason following his team’s disappointing loss to the Missouri Tigers in the Cotton Bowl to close the season.
Now that Day and the Buckeyes have parted company with safeties coach Perry Eliano, those changes have formally started.
Eliano’s two-year contract was coming to an end, and the program decided not to extend it.
The Ohio State Athletic Department released a statement saying, “Ohio State University head football coach Ryan Day has informed assistant coach Perry Eliano that he will not be retained on staff for the 2024 football season.” “Eliano, who oversaw the safety position for the squad, was nearing the end of his first two-year deal with Ohio State. The hunt is on for his replacement.”
After an outstanding tenure as the Cincinnati Bearkats’ cornerbacks coach—during which his team finished 2021 ranked No. 2 in the country for pass defense and No. 3 in the country for interceptions—Eliano joined the Buckeyes in the 2022 campaign.
Additionally, he assisted Coby Bryant and Sauce Garnder—now NFL stars—in earning All-American status.
Eliano assisted Ohio State in moving up from the 96th-ranked pass defense in the nation to the No. 26 unit in the country during his first season with the team in 2022.
And the Buckeyes made even more progress in that regard in 2023, concluding the year as the top pass defense in the country with a just 145.9 yards allowed per contest.
The Buckeyes have declared that their hunt for a replacement is “ongoing,” and they will now start that process.