Indiana Football: Five Replacements for Tom Allen

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Nov 5, 2022; Evanston, Illinois, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes offensive line coach Justin Frye takes the field before the NCAA football game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Ryan Field. Mandatory Credit: Adam Cairns-The Columbus DispatchNCAA Football Ohio State Buckeyes At Northwestern Wildcats /

3. Justin Frye, offensive line coach, Ohio State University

Antwaan Randle El is not the only favorite son, turned coach. Ohio State offensive line coach Justin Frye is another former player who is a candidate to take the job in Bloomington. Frye owns the record for most consecutive starts by an offensive lineman (45) in school history. At 40 years old, you risk Frye bolting for a bigger job.

That said (and it’s been said twice), worrying about whether or not a coach would stay if they succeed should not be a focal point of the search. If they like what they hear from a candidate and decide to hire, they should make the hire no matter what.

Frye does make a ton of sense here. He could help them be more physical along the lines of scrimmage, and he also understands the university’s culture. In addition to being the offensive line coach, he is also the Associate head coach at Ohio State.

The challenge with hiring Frye is his ability to hire a good staff. As an offensive line coach, he’ll have to hire coordinators to run the system he wants. Position coaches have had success running programs. Dabo Swinney and Ed Orgeron did pretty well for themselves.

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