Report: Ohio State To Hire Jacksonville Jaguars’ Tim Walton As New Cornerbacks Coach

Walton played for the Buckeyes from 1990-93 and was named a team captain his senior season.

As first reported by The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman and subsequently confirmed by BuckeyesNow, Ohio State is set to hire Jacksonville Jaguars secondary/cornerbacks coach Tim Walton as its new cornerbacks coach.

SOURCE: Jaguars secondary coach Tim Walton, a longtime NFL assistant, has emerged as a strong candidate to join the Ohio State defensive staff. Walton is an Ohio State grad and was a co-captain for the Big Ten champions in 1993.

— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) January 13, 2022

The 50-year-old Walton played for the Buckeyes from 1990-93 and was named a team captain during his senior season. He recorded 156 tackles, 10 interceptions, nine tackles for loss and nine pass break ups in 39 games, including 22 starts.

A native of Columbus, Ga., Walton began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Bowling Green in 1995. He spent time as the Falcons’ running backs and defensive backs coach before being hired as the defensive backs coach at Memphis in 2000.

After two seasons with the Tigers, he accepted the same position at Syracuse. He spent one year the Orange before joining then head-coach Nick Saban’s staff at LSU in 2003, where he won the national championship.

Walton was named the defensive backs coach at Miami (Fla.) in 2004 and was promoted to defensive coordinator in 2007. He then made the jump to the NFL in 2009 as the secondary coach for the Detroit Lions.

After four seasons in Detroit, Walton was named the St. Louis Rams’ defensive coordinator. He also spent time as the New York Giants cornerbacks coach (2015-17) before being hired by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2019.

The news of Walton’s hiring comes just hours after it was first reported that Ohio State is set to hire Cincinnati’s Perry Eliano as its new safeties coach. Together, they’ll look to fix the Buckeyes’ secondary, which allowed 246.2 passing yards per game last season.

Walton will be the fourth new coach to join Ohio State’s staff this offseason, joining Eliano, defensive coordinator Jim Knowles and offensive line coach Justin Frye. Their arrival means former defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs will not be retained, though there was mutual interest in him returning in 2022 in a lesser role.

It also likely means the end of Al Washington’s time in Columbus, as Knowles is expected to coach the linebackers next season. 

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