Former Washington State defensive coordinator Alex Grinch. Credit: Courtesy of Ezekiel Nelson | Daily Evergreen
Ohio State announced it hired former Washington State defensive coordinator and secondary coach Alex Grinch, who joins the staff in an undisclosed role. The university said “his responsibilities will be announced at a later date.”
Grinch will be the 10th assistant coach on Ohio State’s staff. The NCAA instituted a rule allowing football teams to expand their coaching staffs from nine to 10 assistant coaches.
“I am pleased to announce the addition of Alex Grinch to our coaching staff,” Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer said in a statement. “I am very impressed with his body of work while at Washington State, as many others were, and am happy he chose to come home to Ohio to become a part of our Buckeye coaching staff.”
A Grove City native who graduated from Mount Union in 2002, Grinch spent the past three seasons coaching Washington State.
During his final campaign with the Cougars, Grinch’s defense allowed the 16th-fewest average yards per game (323.3) and was tied for the 56th-fewest yards per game (25.8). Prior to his hiring in 2014, Washington State’s defense ranked 114th in points allowed per game in the country with 38.6.
Prior to his time coaching to Cougars, Grinch coached the secondary at Missouri (2012-14), Wyoming (2009-11) and New Hampshire (2005-08).
Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports first reported Grinch would be joining Ohio State on Thursday. He reported Grinch would assume the role of co-defensive coordinator with Greg Schiano, but Ohio State did not mention what title Grinch will have.
