Ohio State head football coach Ryan Day has added two new pieces to his defensive coaching staff.
Tim Walton was announced as the Buckeye's secondary coach and cornerbacks coach. He has 25 years of coaching experience at the college and NFL levels.
Perry Eliano was announced as Ohio State's new safeties coach. He has spent the last two seasons at the University of Cincinnati.
Walton is a four-year letter winner with the Buckeyes and a member of the 1993 Big Ten championship team. He played in 41 games and had 159 total tackles, 10 interceptions and 11 pass breakups.
He has spent the last 11 seasons in the NFL. He has spent the last three years with Jacksonville.
Prior to his time in the NFL, Walton spent 14 years as a college coach at Memphis, Miami, LSU, Syracuse, and Bowling Green. In 2003, he was LSU's defensive backs coach and helped the Tigers win the SEC title and BCS National Championship.
“We’re very excited to welcome Tim and his family back to Ohio State,” Day said. “As a former Buckeye captain, he comes here with a deep appreciation for how special this place is. And, his experience at both the collegiate and NFL levels make him someone who is uniquely qualified to develop the back end of our defense.”
A Texas native and graduate of Stephen F. Austin, Eliano was a key part of two standout defenses at Cincinnati.
Cincinnati, who just became the first Group of Five team to make the College Football Playoff, had the nation's best pass defense in 2021.
The Bearcats also finished No. 1 nationally in pass efficiency defense (103.36), No. 2 in passing yards allowed (169.2), No. 3 in interceptions (19) and No. 4 in opponent completion pct. (53.9).
“Perry’s work the last two years at Cincinnati speaks for itself,” Day said. “He has developed great players and has been a huge part of the Bearcats’ success. He has 15 years of collegiate experience coaching either safeties or cornerbacks and that was the kind of experience we were looking for. I look forward to welcoming Perry and his family to Ohio State University.”
Walton and Eliano will be joining Ohio State's new-look defensive staff that will be headed by new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles.
Ohio State hired Knowles from Oklahoma State in December.