Ohio State football: New quarterbacks coach named

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A native of Troy, Ala., Dennis came to Ohio State as an intern in 2015.

He was a graduate assistant the following two seasons before becoming a “senior quality control coach” in 2018.

That gave him “increased off-field coaching responsibilities in the areas of game planning, practice planning and daily organization with both the wide receiver and quarterback units” according to his official bio, but he has listed himself as assistant quarterbacks coach on Twitter.

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In his new position, Dennis would be allowed to recruit off campus and coach on the field, but he has already been heavily involved with the quarterbacks and the subject of frequent praise from multiple players over the past two seasons.

Those seasons have been some of the best ever for quarterback play at Ohio State.

Dwayne Haskins Jr. broke multiple school and Big Ten passing records in 2018, and Justin Fields threw 41 touchdown passes against three interceptions last season.

Both were Heisman Trophy finalists and were named the best quarterback and offensive player in the Big Ten.

“Corey is a talented young coach and someone I’ve worked closely alongside for three seasons,” Day said in a statement. “He knows our system and he knows how we teach. I think he is going to allow us to develop some continuity in the quarterback room, and that’s important. I also believe that he is going to be an excellent recruiter for us.”

Dennis — who is the son-in-law of Urban Meyer, Ohio State’s coach from 2012-18 — replaces Mike Yurcich, who let Ohio State after one season to become offensive coordinator at Texas.

Along with more responsibility, Dennis is likely be in line for a big raise. He drew a salary of $105,000 last year.

Yurcich’s base salary was $950,000, and he received a $400,000 signing bonus.

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Yurcich also had the title of passing game coordinator and arrived at Ohio State with far more experience, having been a quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State for six seasons before coming to Columbus, but there is recent precedent for a promotion such as Dennis’.

Brian Hartline was promoted from quality control coach in 2017 to interim receivers coach in 2018 and made full-time for 2019.

Hartline, who was a standout player at Ohio State and spent seven seasons in the NFL, was the lowest-paid of Day’s full-time assistants in 2019 with a salary of $345,000.

Ohio State still has a coaching staff opening on the defensive side of the ball after the departure of Jeff Hafley, who was the co-coordinator and secondary coach before leaving to become head coach at Boston College.

Multiple reports, including LetteramanRow.com and 247Sports.com, have linked Tennessee Titans coach Kerry Coombs to the job.

A University of Dayton grad, Coombs spent six seasons at Ohio State as cornerbacks coach and was special teams coordinator.

He joined the Titans two years ago when former Buckeye Mike Vrabel became their head coach.

If he is to return to Columbus, it won’t be before the Titans are knocked out of the NFL playoffs.

They face the Ravens on Saturday night in the divisional round.