A former Penn State assistant is listed among the top candidates for the Ohio State offensive coordinator job.
Pete Nakos of On3Sports put Joe Moorhead on his Ohio State offensive coordinator hot board.
Ohio State offensive coordinator hot board via @PeteNakos_🔥
Top candidates to replace new Las Vegas Raiders OC Chip Kelly👀
View: https://t.co/M4QWDAYXFY pic.twitter.com/Xyfd3cTDi1
— On3 (@On3sports) February 3, 2025
The Ohio State OC job became open Sunday when Chip Kelly left for the same position with the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders.
Moorhead to Ohio State is an interesting possibility.
There’s no question that Moorhead is qualified for the job. He’s spent the past 13 seasons as either a Power Four offensive coordinator or a DI head coach. PSU fans know him best for the work he did during the 2016 and ‘17 seasons. In Moorhead’s second season, PSU averaged 41.1 points, tied for first in the Big Ten. In the seven seasons since, Penn State hasn’t approached that total.
But would Moorhead make sense for Ohio State?
IS MOORHEAD TO OSU REALISTIC?
COLUMBUS, OH – AUGUST 31: Akron Zips head coach Joe Moorhead during the game against the Akron Zips and the Ohio State Buckeyes on August 31, 2024, at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, OH. (Photo by Ian Johnson/Icon Sportswire)
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.So how realistic is it that Ohio State would hire Moorhead? Probably not extremely. For one, it’s been reported by at least one outlet that Ohio State is already set to give the job to current receivers coach Brian Hartline (this is not widely reported enough to be taken as fact yet). But regardless of whether Ohio State has already given the job to him, Hartline to OSU would make sense, since he’s already with the program and is far and away the best receivers coach in the country.
The fact that Moorhead is 8-28 as head coach at Akron probably hasn’t done a ton to help his stock, either. There’s a good chance that Moorhead is a Power 4 coordinator again one day but it doesn’t seem likely that it will be in Columbus.
OTHER CANDIDATES
MIAMI GARDENS, FL – NOVEMBER 18: Miami Offensive Coordinator Shannon Dawson speaks with an assistant prior to the game as the Miami Hurricanes faced the Louisville Cardinals on November 18, 2023, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Samuel Lewis/Icon Sportswire)
So besides Hartline and Moorhead, who are other possible candidates for the Ohio State OC job? Nakos has Miami OC Shannon Dawson and Oregon OC Will Stein listed.
We’ll see what happens.
Penn State football and Ohio State are scheduled to play Nov. 1 in Columbus.
