Ohio State officially announced the hiring of new director of player development C.J. Barnett, as was reported last week, on Monday afternoon.

In Ohio State's release, Ryan Day commented on why he felt Barnett was the perfect choice to replace Ryan Stamper, who left Ohio State to become the Jacksonville Jaguars' director of player assessment.

“C.J. is the perfect fit for what we were looking for in terms of our player development position,” Day said. “We’ll miss Ryan Stamper, as he helped our program become the standard when it comes to helping players prepare for life and success off the field. C.J. is going to come in and build onto that standard and enhance it, too. His experiences as a player and as a member of the Columbus Police Department make him exactly the kind of person our players can learn and grow from. We’re thrilled that he’s back with our program.”

Barnett, who played for the Buckeyes from 2010-13 and had been a Columbus Police officer since July 2018, said he is “really pleased to be coming back to work for a program that has given so much to me.”

“I look forward to using my experiences to become a trusted advocate and resource for our players in all areas of their lives,” Barnett said. “I look forward to getting to work for Coach Day and this staff, and on behalf of the players, and to help grow the already strong culture that exists in this program.”

Barnett will begin working at Ohio State on Wednesday.