COLUMBUS, Ohio — If Ryan Day could have hired just one assistant for Ohio State’s coaching staff in 2019, it would have been Jeff Hafley. The coordinator on the opposite side of the ball from the head coach’s expertise is the most important hire on any staff. Plus Hafley and Day were friends from coaching together with the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL. They had driven to work together; Hafley had watched Day’s son play baseball; they viewed each other as kindred spirits in the coaching profession; and born 23 days apart in 1979, they vowed to work together again after the 49ers’ staff was dismantled after a 2-14 season in 2016. They did. For a season. Day’s hiring of Hafley as a co-coordinator to reshape the Ohio State defense was so good, it was too good. Hafley was on the cusp of taking the Boston College head coaching…
Continue Reading: Ohio State football coach Ryan Day loses Jeff Hafley, his top assistant pick, and faces another major head coach test
