COLUMBUS, Ohio – Spring practice starts in less than a week for the Ohio State Buckeyes and this year will see two new coaches on the roster.
Well, at least one of them is new in Alex Grinch, the new co-Defensive coordinator and safeties coach who made his way over from Washington State.
The second coach knows his way around the Woody Hayes Athletic Center with Taver Johnson, the new cornerbacks and special teams coordinator. Johnson coached at Ohio State under Jim Tressel for several years before pursuing other opportunities.
Each coach had a chance on Wednesday to talk with the local media about their decisions to join the Buckeyes and what went into making those moves to join Urban Meyer's staff for 2018.
Both coaches have ties to the state of Ohio, both being born in the Buckeye state and for Grinch, the ties go even deeper. He admitted that he was born at University Hospital on campus, his grandparents were season ticket holders and despite the travels of a college coach, Ohio has always been near and dear to him.
"Ohio is home. My wife is from Alliance (Ohio) and we have not lived in-state since graduating college," Grinch said. "It has been like 16 or 17 years since we lived in the state. We vacation in Ohio. As you go around the country and all the stops along the way in coaching but most certainly this is home."
Grinch reportedly have several other offers on the table before accepting the job with the Buckeyes. Was coming back to Ohio the determining factor in picking Ohio State over other opportunities?
"Is that the driving force in this opportunity? No," Grinch added. "It is the program, the university. But obviously, to suggest that is not an added bonus, I would be lying to you."
The coaches will get their first chance to work with the team on football activities when spring football kicks off on March 6th, but at this point Grinch has really focused on the rest of the coaching staff and is thrilled with the staff that Meyer has put together to lead this team.
"I feel very comfortable working with this coaching staff and what a great group of mentors to young men and elite coaches," Grinch said. "I keep coming back to that."
For Taver Johnson, a Cincinnati native, this is a return to Ohio. Johnson was part of the Ohio State staff from 2007 to the early parts of 2012 before taking a job at Arkansas. Before Ohio State, Johnson had worked at Miami (Ohio) and the Cleveland Browns and not worked out of the state of Ohio since before the year 2000.
Johnson remembered the conversation with Urban Meyer, when he told him that he was going to explore other opportunities.
"Coach Meyer and I have known each other for (more than) 20 years," Johnson recalled. "He knew that it was not personal whatsoever, when I left it was not on bad terms. When you tell coach Meyer no, that is always a tough thing."
Johnson would be at Arkansas for two years, Purdue for three years and Temple for one year before making it back to Ohio State to start the 2018 campaign.
"When you go through different stages, trying to get a different stage at that time and that point of my career, that is what I felt," Johnson said. "Was it right, was it wrong? It was a great learning experience and I would not take it away for anything in the world. We had some bumps and bruises but that is what allowed me to continue on my career and actually get back here at this point in time."
Johnson already had the chance to coach under Jim Tressel with the Buckeyes and saw the successes those teams had. Now he will be a part of a Meyer-led team. Two great coaches and two great periods of time in Ohio State history.
"When you walk in the door every day you are going 100 miles an hour," Johnson said. "We were able to do some really good things when I was here the first time with coach Tressel, which I am thankful for… just the ongoing everything that we do at such a high rate and high expectation every day constantly is good. It challenges you as a person and as a coach. It is really within these last eight or nine days that I have been working, has already made me better overall."
