The “Little Animal” now a full-time beast; other coaching news
COVER PHOTO: Former Ohio State linebacker and current grad assistant coach James Laurinaitis was named to a full-time position on the Buckeyes' coaching staff by head coach Ryan Day.
On Thursday, Ohio State football head coach Ryan Day finally made an announcement that Buckeye Nation was waiting for when he filled the tenth and final full-time spot on his coaching spot: graduate assistant James Laurinaitis was officially promoted as the team’s linebackers coach. His contract is good for two seasons through 2025.
The school did not announce how much his contract is worth.
Laurinaitis did not release an official statement but simply had this to say on X:
https://twitter.com/JLaurinaitis55/status/1758238784775143457
Nicknamed the “Little Animal” during his playing days for the Buckeyes in homage to his dad, Joe “Animal” Laurinaitis - who was a pro wrestling legend as part of the Road Warriors in the WWF, James is only one of eight three-time All-Americans to don the Scarlet and Gray.
He came onto Day’s staff before the beginning of last season as a grad assistant whose focus was on the linebackers. He was in the same role during 2022 for Notre Dame head coach and former OSU teammate Marcus Freeman’s staff.
Last year, Laurinaitis helped mentor a veteran group of linebackers on the way to producing 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).
Two aspects that will be huge now that he's full-time, is his ability to allow defensive coordinator Jim Knowles to focus more on being the DC as Knowles was also the linebackers coach. No. 2 is Laurinaitis’ ability to go out on the road and recruit. Per NCAA rules, only the ten official full-time coaches are allowed to visit recruits. While recruits are in Columbus, however, any member of the staff is allowed to speak to them.
Laurinaitis is credited with swinging current LB commit Payton Pierce to Columbus when he was leaning towards Notre Dame while Laurinaitis was on the Fighting Irish’s staff in 2022. A four-star out of Lovejoy (Lucas, Tex.) High School, Pierce was ranked as the country’s No. 18 linebacker and is currently enrolled for classes at OSU.
During his Buckeye playing days for former head coach Jim Tressel from 2005 - ‘08, Laurinaitis played on four Big Ten championship teams and twice helped the Buckeyes to back-to-back BCS national championship games in 2006 and ‘07, and never lost a game to Michigan, going 4-0.
Not only did he lead the team in tackles for three straight seasons as a sophomore, junior and senior but he also snagged the Big Ten’s defensive player of the year in both 2007 and 2008. His 375 total tackles rank seventh all-time in school history.
In addition to his All-American accolades, Laurinaitis was honored with four major national awards. As a sophomore, he won the Bronko Nagurski Award as the nation’s best defensive player; the next season, he took home the Butkus Award as America’s top linebacker; and became Ohio State’s first-ever winner of both the Lott IMPACT Trophy and the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award as a senior.
No Buckeye defensive player has more defensive hardware than him.
After an eight-year NFL career with both the St. Louis Rams (2009-15) and New Orleans Saints (2016), Laurinaitis finished his seven-year career for the Rams with 852 total tackles, the most in franchise history.
Other coaching news
Laurinaitis' new job title wasn't the only announcement the Buckeyes made on Friday. According to the official statement:
- Cornerbacks coach Tim Walton has been promoted to assistant head coach/secondary and cornerbacks coach, and 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, the son of Larry Johnson, has joined the staff as senior analyst.