Ohio State Buckeyes

Urban Meyer hiring a Chip Kelly protege to spark Buckeyes' offense after Fiesta Bowl flop

Published Jan. 3, 2017 8:07 p.m. ET

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Bruce Feldman

Urban Meyer is shaking up his offense after the Buckeyes were shut out in the Fiesta Bowl -- the first time in his 15 years as a head coach that one of his teams was blanked. Ohio State is hiring former 49ers QB coach Ryan Day as a coordinator/QB coach, a source told FOX Sports on Tuesday morning.

Day, a protege of Chip Kelly, was a graduate assistant under Meyer at Florida in 2005 and had been an offensive coordinator for Boston College prior to his time in the NFL. Before coming to the 49ers, Day was in Philadelphia and worked with QB Sam Bradford, who, after overcoming two ACL injuries, set career highs in completion percentage (65.0) and passing yards (3,725) in 2015. His completion percentage set the Eagles’ single-season franchise record, and his passing yards ranked fourth in a single season in franchise history.

Day joined the Eagles following two seasons (2013-14) as the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Boston College. In 2014, the Eagles ranked second in the ACC and 21st in the country in rushing yards per game (254.4). And in the 2013 season, running back Andre Williams became just the 16th player in FBS history to rush for 2,000 or more yards after registering 2,177 yards on 355 attempts -- leading to unanimous All-America honors. A Heisman Trophy finalist, Williams became the ACC’s first Doak Walker Award winner. Boston College had a five-win improvement in Day’s first season as offensive coordinator.

In 2012, Day was the offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach at Temple, where he helped the Owls to a Big East-high 201 rushing yards per game. Owls running back Montel Harris led the conference with 1,057 rushing yards on just 186 carries.

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