The Ohio State Buckeyes captured the College Football Playoff national championship last month with a win over Notre Dame in the title game, but it looks like they’ll now have to find a replacement for one of the key coaches behind that successful run.
According to a report from ESPN college football insider Pete Thamel, Ohio State offensive line coach Justin Frye is set to leave the program to take on the same role with the Arizona Cardinals.
“Sources: Ohio State offensive line coach Justin Frye is expected to become the offensive line coach of the Arizona Cardinals. Frye is a veteran OL coach with stops at UCLA, Boston College and Temple. Frye was also offensive coordinator during his time at UCLA under Chip Kelly,” Thamel shared in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Frye faced a major challenge this season as Ohio State’s offensive line took a big hit with two significant midseason injuries, losing future first-round draft pick Josh Simmons at left tackle and eventual Rimington Award winner Seth McLaughlin at center.
Even without their two top linemen, the Buckeyes managed to rally and dominate the line of scrimmage throughout the College Football Playoff.
Now heading to Arizona, Frye will reunite with former Ohio State left tackle Paris Johnson Jr., who played under him for one season before becoming a first-round pick by the Cardinals in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Needless to say, Frye’s departure led to a lot of reactions on social media.
“This is good for both parties. Frye can now focus on strictly coaching and development and not recruiting. And Ohio State can find someone who is a better recruiter/developer. Good luck coach Frye!” one fan wrote on X.
“He might have been the most valuable coach, patching together a championship level offensive line after all the key injuries,” someone else added.
“This coaching staff is getting gutted bruh,” another person wrote.
“I didn’t see that coming…” someone else said.
“This is the price of winning. Frye caught a lot of flack from the fan base over his recruiting failures, but he deserves a ton of credit for the play of his unit during the postseason despite losing a project 1st-round LT and a Rimington Award-winning Center,” another person wrote.
“Well done Frye, mission complete! Go be great. As I always say, part of being at the top is how well you can hire great coaches cause great coaches will be hired elsewhere,” someone else added.
With Frye’s departure, Ohio State now has another key coaching position to fill this offseason, following the exit of defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, who left to take the same role at Penn State.
