James Laurinaitis was elevated to full-time coaching for the Ohio State Buckeyes just a year after he moved back to Columbus to work as a graduate assistant for the same team he captained as a player.

Jim Knowles, the defensive coordinator, oversaw the role of linebacker coach at Ohio State prior to the appointment of the former Buckeye.

Nonetheless, a previous Butkus Award winner will be coaching the linebacker room following coach Ryan Day’s decision to shuffle his staff this offseason, firing safeties coach Perry Eliano and special teams coordinator Parker Fleming.

After spending seven years in the NFL as a player, Laurinaitis continued to be involved in football through coaching. In 2022, the former second-round selection began his coaching career at Notre Dame, serving as graduate assistant and assistant linebackers coach under then-new head coach Marcus Freeman.

After that, he returned to Columbus and spent the previous season working for the Buckeyes in the same capacity.

Some people won’t be surprised by this, given Laurinaitis was recently recruiting for the Buckeyes because of a staffing vacancy that made him one of the ten coaches permitted to leave school.

After being one of the most accomplished defensive players in Buckeye history during his playing career, he will now try to lead Ohio State’s linebacker group, which lost both of its starters from the previous campaign, Steele Chambers and Tommy Eichenberg.