After just one year at Ohio State, Alex Grinch has been hired away by Oklahoma to become their defensive coordinator, according to a report by Bruce Feldman.
The report backs what a source told The-Ozone this morning as well.
Grinch, formerly the defensive coordinator at Washington State, came to Ohio State prior to this past season to be the co-defensive coordinator and then presumably move up to defensive coordinator in the event that current defensive coordinator Greg Schiano took a head coaching job somewhere.
Rather than wait for presumptions, however, Grinch is now the defensive coordinator at Oklahoma.
Sooners head coach Lincoln Riley had been in the market for a defensive coordinator for a while, having fired Mike Stoops midway through the 2018 season.
Over the past few weeks, Riley was reported to have locked in on Grinch as his top choice.
Last week at the Rose Bowl media day, every OSU assistant coach except for Grinch expressed a desire to stay at Ohio State.
When asked to talk about the Oklahoma rumors and his coaching future, Grinch said simply, “I can’t answer it. I’m excited for the Rose Bowl.”
New Ohio State head coach Ryan Day is still putting his staff together, having just hired Mike Yurcich to essentially replace himself as quarterbacks coach.
Day will want to get things settled as quickly as possible because of signing day on February 6, but this being his first staff, he’ll also want to make sure he gets the best staff he can. With only a few spots left in the 2019 class, the February signing period is not quite the motivator it has been in the past.
Grinch will now join a program known as much this season for its defensive struggles as its offensive prowess. If he can change the defense in Norman (as he did at Washington State), then you would think a head coaching job won’t be far behind.