Ryan Day Hires Former Indiana Co-DC Matt Guerrieri As Safeties Coach

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day is hiring former Indiana co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach Matt Guerrieri to coach the same position for the Buckeyes. Former OSU safeties coach Perry Eliano did not have his contract renewed.

Guerrieri spent last year at Indiana on former Hoosier head coach Tom Allen’s staff, but was on Day’s OSU staff in 2022 as a senior advisor for defensive coordinator Jim Knowles.

Before Ohio State, Guerrieri was the co-defensive coordinator at Duke from 2018-2021, but had been with the Blue Devils since 2012. Knowles was the defensive coordinator at Duke from 2012 until he left for Oklahoma State following the 2017 season. The two spent six years together in Durham, North Carolina.

Knowles then brought Guerrieri over to Ohio State in 2022 when he was hired by Ryan Day to run the Buckeyes’ defense.

Guerrieri, 34, was one of three finalists for the 2020 American Football Coaches Association Assistant Coach of the Year, and a nominee for the 2018 Broyles Award — which also goes to the best assistant coach in the nation. He has routinely been mentioned as one of the top young coaches in college football, earning a spot on 247Sports’ Top 30 Coaches Under 30 list in both 2018 and 2019.

Guerrieri replaces Perry Eliano, who spent two years at Ohio State coaching safeties after coming from the University of Cincinnati.

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