A member of Ohio State’s defensive support staff is leaving the Buckeyes for a full-time coaching position at Kentucky.
Kentucky is hiring Tony Washington Jr., who’s been an assistant defensive line coach for Ohio State this season, as its new defensive ends and outside linebackers coach, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported Sunday.
Sources: Kentucky is set to hire Tony Washington Jr. as the schools new DE/OLBs coach. He comes from Ohio State, where hes an assistant working with the defensive line this year. He has previous stops at UCLA, Oregon and Nebraska. pic.twitter.com/6CPtB2cbFs
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 14, 2025
An Oregon alumnus, Washington was a member of the Ducks’ staff from 2021-23, working alongside new Kentucky head coach Will Stein in his first year as Oregon’s offensive coordinator in 2023. He then spent one year coaching defensive linemen and outside linebackers at UCLA before joining the Buckeyes this year as an assistant to Larry Johnson.
Washington is the second member of Ohio State’s 2025 support staff to be hired away by a SEC school with a new head coach, joining assistant offensive line coach Marcus Johnson, who Arkansas hired as one of two offensive line coaches on its new staff.
