COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Buckeyes made it official on Friday and named long-time support staffer Corey Dennis as the new quarterbacks coach, filling a vacancy left by the departure of Mike Yurcich to Texas.

We told you that this was going to be the move in December and the news was also reported by Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports shortly thereafter.

“Corey is a talented young coach and someone I’ve worked closely alongside for three seasons,” Ryan Day said in making the announcement. “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 most recently served in the capacity as a senior quality control coach for offense and has really become known as someone who works well with Ohio State’s quarterbacks, including the likes of current Washington Redskins quarterback Dwayne Haskins.

“He’s like my personal quarterback coach when coach (Ryan) Day’s not around,” Haskins said while still a member of the Ohio State team. “I can ask him about coverages, pressures, and he has everything that Coach Day teaches him and helps me out with it throughout practice, throughout meetings. He helps me a lot.”

Additionally, Dennis is also the son-in-law of former head coach Urban Meyer.

It was looking like Dennis was going to take wife Nicki and Meyer’s two grandchildren west to Colorado State for a new opportunity under Steve Addazio but things in coaching change quickly and as the news of Yurcich’s impending departure spread, it appeared more and more likely that there might be a spot on the staff for Dennis and that has now been confirmed in the naming of the young coach to Ohio State’s roster of 10 assistant coaches, a roster that is now sitting at nine as the Buckeyes still need to fill the spot left open by Jeff Hafley.

Strangely enough, Dennis spent some time as an acting position coach for the Buckeyes when his father-in-law announced his retirement and elevated Ryan Day to the head coach position. Dennis served as a recruiter while Day was largely taking the head coaching recruiting role during that timeframe as Meyer prepared for his final game as Ohio State’s head coach.

Dennis will now have the chance to work even more with 2020 Heisman frontrunner Justin Fields. Fields will now be in his second season with the Buckeyes and likely his final one as he will be draft eligible after the 2020 season. Dennis will also have a couple of prized pupils joining the room with both Jack Miller and CJ Stroud enrolling early. While Dennis won’t be able to work with them directly on football until the start of spring practice, he will be able to monitor from afar the first steps of each in their Ohio State careers.

2020 will mark Dennis’ sixth year in the Ohio State program. Before turning to coaching, Dennis was played wide receiver at Georgia Tech.

Keep it locked in here to BuckeyeGrove.com as we will have more on this including the recruiting impact and look forward to having a chance to speak with Dennis for a more in-depth look at the decision to join the Ohio State staff and what the future holds in store.