By Danielle Daniels
February 15, 2024
Walton promoted; Johnson gets two-year deal; Knowles and Bailey earn extensions
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State head coach Ryan Day completed his 10-assistant coaching staff today by naming three-time Buckeye All-American James Laurinaitis as the team’s linebackers’ coach. Laurinaitis received a two-year contract through the 2025 season.
In addition to naming one of the program’s most accomplished players to his staff, Day also announced on Friday:
§ Tim Walton has been promoted to assistant head coach/secondary and cornerbacks coach, and he has received a two-year contract extension through the 2026 season;
§ Defensive coordinator Jim Knowles received a two-year contract extension through the 2026 season;
§ Associate head coach/defensive line coach Larry Johnson has a new two-year contract through the 2025 season;
§ Tight ends coach Keenan Bailey has earned a one-year contract extension through the 2025 season; and
§ Tony Johnson has joined the staff as senior analyst.
Laurinaitis, who spent the 2023 season with the Buckeyes as a graduate student coach, is one of only eight three-time All-Americans in Ohio State history, and he is the most recent. He played on four Big Ten championship teams at Ohio State, twice helped the team to the BCS national championship game and went 4-0 in games against Michigan.
After an eight-year NFL career with the St. Louis Rams (2009-15) and New Orleans Saints (2016), Laurinaitis began his coaching career in 2022 as a graduate assistant at Notre Dame before coming to Columbus last season. He helped mentor a veteran group of linebackers and produced the program’s first-ever Big Ten Linebacker of the Year – Tommy Eichenberg. Overall, Ohio State’s defense was second nationally in scoring (11.2 points allowed/game) and No. 3 in total defense (265.4 yards allowed/game).
In addition to his All-American accolades, Laurinaitis was honored with four major national awards. No Buckeye defensive player has more. He won the Bronko Nagurski Award as the nation’s outstanding defensive player as a sophomore; he took home the Butkus Award as America’s top linebacker as a junior; and he became Ohio State’s first-ever winner of both the Lott IMPACT Trophy and the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award as a senior.
Ohio State’s leading tackler as a sophomore, junior and senior and the Big Ten Conference defensive player of the year in both 2007 and 2008, Laurinaitis amassed 375 total tackles, seventh-best in school history. He starred on a defensive unit that led the nation in total defense in 2007 and never ranked lower than 15th nationally throughout his career.
With the St. Louis Rams, Laurinaitis finished his seven-year career with 852 total tackles – the most in franchise history. He played his final NFL season, in 2016, with the New Orleans Saints.
Laurinaitis, who graduated from Ohio State in 2009 with his degree in communications, and his wife, Shelly, also an Ohio State graduate, have three young daughters.
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