Eliano came to Ohio State in a wave of new coaches after the Buckeyes defense struggled, particularly in the secondary, in 2020 and ‘21.
Prior to his time in Columbus, the Texas native was widely lauded for his work with cornerbacks at Cincinnati, where he mentored stars Sauce Gardner and Coby Bryant, but he coached safeties at Ohio State.
That unit showed improvement each season, but recruiting was more of a mixed bag after the Buckeyes missed on five-star prospect K.J. Bolden of Georgia and weren’t able to flip four-star prospect Koi Perich from his pledge to home-state Minnesota on national signing day last month.
Ohio State did sign three-star safeties Jaylen McClain of West Orange, NJ., and Leroy Roker of Fort Myers, Fla., this year after bringing in four-stars Malik Hartford of Lakota West and Cedrick Hawkins of Cocoa, Fla., and three-star Jayden Bonsu of Jersey City, N.J. last season.
The possibility also exists Eliano’s exit is more related to overall changes within head coach Ryan Day’s staff after a third straight loss to Michigan knocked the Buckeyes out of the Big Ten race and left them out of the College Football Playoff for the second time in three years.
FootballScoop.com, a website that focuses on coaching moves, reported Friday “major staff changes” are expected at Ohio State.
That includes offense, defense and special teams with a focus on offense.
Per the report, Day told the staff he planned to hire a new offensive coordinator who would have the ability to adjust the staff to his liking.
Quarterbacks coach Corey Dennis, running backs coach Tony Alford and offensive line coach Justin Frye are all at the end of two-year contracts, though that does not mean any or all of them will or will not be back.
Defensive line coach Larry Johnson’s deal also is up, but Day has said he expects Johnson to be back next season.
Day is entering his sixth season at Ohio State, where he is 56-8 with two Big Ten championships and three playoff appearances.
He is under contract through 2028, but the losses to Michigan and the pending retirement of director of athletics Gene Smith might impact his job security moving forward.
New university president Ted Carter, whose first day was Monday, told reporters in Columbus the search for Smith’s successor was progressing and expressed confidence in Day.
“I have a great respect for the biggest rivalries that exist in the country,” said Carter, who most recently led the University of Nebraska. “As somebody that ran the Naval Academy, the Army vs. Navy game is as big a rivalry — only second to the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry.
“I think Ryan Day would also say that our goals are to win the Big Ten and win the national championship every year. We didn’t meet that, but Ryan Day runs a fantastic program. He’s our coach, I’m proud that he’s our coach and he will continue to be our coach.”
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