The Fordham football program announced on Friday that they have hired Ohio State assistant defensive line coach Kenny Anunike to be their defensive line coach.
Our new DL Coach comes to the Bronx after working with the same position at The Ohio State University! He also is the proud owner of a Super Bowl ring from his playing days!
Please welcome Coach Kenny Anunike with a follow! ? @ANU_NIKE22 #2AM1lY pic.twitter.com/TXmnTesuNu
— Fordham Football (@FORDHAMFOOTBALL) April 3, 2020
Anunike has been OSU defensive line coach Larry Johnson’s right-hand man since 2017 when he came to Ohio State as a graduate assistant for the defense.
A Central Ohio native, Anunike attended Duke where he was a two-time All-ACC defensive lineman. He finished his career as Duke’s all-time leader in sacks (15). He also posted 148 tackles and 26 career tackles for loss. He then spent two seasons with the Denver Broncos, winning a Super Bowl in the process.
In his time at Ohio State, Anunike was instrumental in the development of the Buckeye defensive line, helping Johnson produce five NFL Draft picks — each of whom was selected in the top four rounds, with another two likely to happen later this month in Chase Young and DaVon Hamilton, who are also likely to be selected in the top four rounds.
In his time working with Larry Johnson and the OSU defensive line, the Buckeyes had two players — Nick Bosa and Chase Young — named Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year. They have also had four First-Team All-Big Ten defensive linemen, as well as additional Second- and Third-Team selections, and also several named Honorable Mention.
Anunike has been seen by some as an eventual successor to Larry Johnson at Ohio State. Buckeye defensive linemen have spoken openly about how much they like “Coach Kenny,” so they will no doubt miss him going forward. This move, however, will now allow Anunike to run his own room and gain more experience in recruiting.
One of Ohio State’s new defensive grad assistants is Grayson Miller, who played safety and linebacker for Michigan State from 2015-2018. He was a grad assistant at Ohio last year.
Another even more interesting addition to the OSU defensive staff was Joe Bolden as a quality control coach for the defense. Bolden was a three-year starter at linebacker for Michigan where he played for Greg Mattison (2012-2015). Last year he was a quality control coach at USC.
Prayerfully he goes and gets some good experience and continues to develop…setting up an eventual return home. I think this guy has all the goods.
Best of Luck!
I wholeheartedly agree.