Ohio State football promotes RB coach Tony Alford to run-game coordinator
Ohio State running backs coach Tony Alford will also serve as run-game coordinator, OSU coach Ryan Day announced on Tuesday.
The promotion comes after coach Ryan Day added passing-game coordinator to wide receivers coach Brian Hartline's duties last week.
Alford already had the title "assistant head coach for offense."
“Tony has continually mentored and produced tough, reliable and productive running backs for the Buckeyes,” Day said in a statement. “He has a terrific understanding of how to get his student-athletes to perform at a high rate of competitiveness, and I’m really pleased to promote him to run game coordinator.”
Alford has been Ohio State's running backs coach since 2015 and is entering his 25th year coaching that position. New LSU coach Brian Kelly reportedly pursued Alford for his staff. Alford coached under Kelly at Notre Dame.
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In six of his seven seasons in Columbus, Ohio State has had a 1,000-yard rusher. Freshman TreVeyon Henderson ran for 1,248 yards last year, averaging 6.8 yards per carry. The only time OSU hasn't had a 1,000-yard rusher under Alford was in 2020 when the pandemic shortened the season to eight games.
Ohio State also announced the addition of Matt Guerrieri to its staff as senior advisor and analyst. He was previously at Duke, where he was co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach. Guerrieri (pronounced gurr-AIR-ee) coached under new OSU defensive coordinator Jim Knowles at Duke from 2012-17 when Knowles had the same title for the Blue Devils.
Guerrieri is a native of Willoughby Hills, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland.
Bill Rabinowitz covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Contact him at brabinowitz@dispatch.com or on Twitter @brdispatch.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football makes Tony Alford run-game coordinator
