Sources: Ohio State hires ex-NFL coach Philbin

Last updated: 2023/05/24 at 12:24 AM

BigP Published May 24, 2023

Pete Thamel, ESPNMay 23, 2023, 06:37 PM ET

Ohio State has added a boldface name and experienced coach to its staff, as sources told ESPN that the Buckeyes have hired former NFL head coach Joe Philbin as an offensive analyst.

Philbin is a former head coach of the Miami Dolphins and interim coach of the Green Bay Packers and won the Super Bowl as the Packers’ offensive coordinator during the 2010 NFL season.

At Ohio State, Philbin will work with the offensive staff and under coordinator Brian Hartline, a former player of his with the Dolphins. Philbin, whose background is on the offensive line, will help veteran offensive line coach Justin Frye. A need emerged on the Buckeyes staff for additional offensive line expertise when tight ends coach Kevin Wilson departed for Tulsa, as Wilson had an offensive line background from early in his career.

The hire shows a continued effort by Ohio State under head coach Ryan Day to add football brainpower to the building, a stated effort that began after the loss to Alabama in the national title game following the 2020 season.

Philbin will be joined on the off-field offensive staff by veteran coordinator Todd Fitch, who brings expertise in the throwing game. Former Buckeye star James Laurinaitis joined the program in January as a graduate assistant working with the defense. Earlier in the offseason, Ohio State also added former Nebraska assistant Mike Dawson to the defensive staff as an analyst.

Philbin’s NFL experience stretches back to 2003, when he started with the Packers. He went 24-28 in four seasons as the Dolphins head coach from 2012 to 2015. Hartline played for the Dolphins from 2009 to 2014. Philbin is 26-30 overall as an NFL coach, counting his four-game interim stint at Green Bay in 2018.

Philbin’s last NFL job came with the Cowboys, and he was fired following the 2022 season after three years in Dallas. Philbin’s last college job came as Iowa’s offensive line coach from 1999 to 2002, and he’d served at six other colleges as the offensive line coach prior to that, including Harvard, Northeastern and Ohio.