Ryan Day continues to remake his coaching staff ahead of the 2024 season, and the Ohio State coach announced on Wednesday that he’s fired Parker Fleming, the special teams coordinator. This move was popular with many fans, as Fleming’s recent performance was widely criticized.

Day also announced that former Indiana defensive coordinator Matt Guerrieri, who also coached safeties, would be the new safeties coach and replace Perry Eliano. It’s a move expected to bolster recruiting.

Guerrieri was a senior advisor and analyst for the Buckeyes in 2022. He has worked extensively in his career with defensive coordinator Jim Knowles. Guerrieri worked as a graduate assistant under Knowles at Duke in 2012. He became Duke’s safeties coach in 2015. Between Duke and Ohio State, Guerrieri has coached alongside Knowles for 7 seasons.

The special teams units suffered repeated mistakes throughout the season, including botched punt snaps against Maryland and Rutgers. Similar problems happened at the end of the 2022 season against Michigan and Georgia when fake punt attempts failed.

In the Peach Bowl playoff semifinal, OSU had too many men on the field for a fake attempt when Georgia coach Kirby Smart saved the Buckeyes with a timeout.

Fleming was in his 3rd season as the special team’s coordinator after he previously worked on Ohio State’s staff for 3 seasons as a quality control coach with the special teams units (2018-20).

Fleming has worked 2 different stints at Ohio State, beginning in 2012-13 as a graduate assistant before he returend in 2018 to serve as a quality control coach for special teams. In 2018, his first season back, the Buckeyes’ special teams unit ranked No. 2 in kickoff return defense, No. 6 in net punting, No. 8 in punt return defense and No. 10 in blocked kicks.