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Co-OC/TE Coach Keenan Bailey (National Champion)
- By brodybuck21
- Buckeye Football
- 77 Replies
“Almost business as usual” for Bailey despite added responsibilities
Ryan Day isn’t the only one taking on additional responsibilities with Ohio State’s offense during the College Football Playoff due to Brian Hartline’s impending departure for South Florida.While Day is taking over offensive play calling duties from Hartline, he’s said multiple times that co-offensive coordinator Keenan Bailey is also “very much involved” in the offensive operation for the CFP. Bailey will take Hartline’s place as the eye in the sky for the offense in the Cotton Bowl, as he’ll coach from the press box while Hartline will coach from the sideline in a reversal of roles from the regular season and Big Ten Championship Game.
Bailey, who regularly coaches Ohio State’s tight ends, also spent time coaching Ohio State’s wide receivers during the Buckeyes’ Cotton Bowl preparations as Hartline spent some time in Tampa preparing for his first season as USF’s head coach before returning to Columbus for Ohio State’s CFP run.
The extra work hasn’t felt like a big change for Bailey, though, because of how collaborative Ohio State’s coaching staff already was.
“Has it been different for me? Yeah, I've had to do some different things. Not roles that I haven't done in the past, but however I could help make it easier for (Hartline), for the players, for Coach Day, I will do anything for those guys,” Bailey told Eleven Warriors. “We've been so collaborative over the last decade – myself, Hart, Coach Day, even (quarterbacks coach Billy Fessler) has been here for quite some time – we have such a great chemistry that it's not that much different, right? Now ultimately with Coach Hart's deal, Coach Day, everything goes through him. But from a day-to-day standpoint, it's been almost business as usual.”
Bailey, who could be a candidate to replace Hartline as Ohio State’s wide receivers coach next season – if not to replace Hartline as offensive coordinator – said he enjoyed spending more time with the wide receivers because of the role he played in recruiting many of them, specifically starters Carnell Tate, Brandon Inniss and Jeremiah Smith.
“To step back in there and coach them, it was kind of refreshing,” Bailey said.
Day has trusted Bailey to take on additional responsibilities for the CFP because of the consistent work Bailey has put in throughout his tenure at Ohio State, where he’s worked his way up from joining the staff as an offensive intern in 2016.
“He means a lot to us on offense. He does a lot of the heavy lifting. He's kind of the guy behind the scenes who does all the dirty work for us in terms of like the preparation, the cut-ups, the motivation,” Day said Wednesday. “He's the first guy in the building, the last guy to leave. He's a hard worker, and he knows what we want to get done. And that has a tremendous amount of value to our offense.”
Cotton Bowl Media Day Notebook: Keenan Bailey Taking On Additional Duties for CFP, C.J. Hicks and Malik Hartford Discuss Redshirt Decisions and Ethan Onianwa Putting Team First
We share what Keenan Bailey said about his additional duties for the CFP, C.J. Hicks and Malik Hartford said about their redshirts and more from Ohio State’s Cotton Bowl media day.
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