Ohio State poaches Virginia Tech offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen to be next OL coach

For the last couple of seasons, the offensive and defensive coordinators at Virginia Tech have come under fire. In December, head coach Brent Pry fired three assistant coaches, including defensive coordinator Chris Marve. A lot of Hokies fans were wondering why offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen survived another season in which there have been a couple of seasons of questionable play-calling.

It appears that Bowen’s days in Blacksburg might be coming to an end and it isn’t a decision that came from the school.

Virginia Tech OC Tyler Bowen heading to Ohio State as an offensive line coach

Just a couple of weeks removed from winning the new 12-team College Football Playoff as the No. 8 seed, head coach Ryan Day is reportedly hiring Bowen to become the school's next offensive coordinator according to FootballScoop. This, you could say, is a surprise move, but one that leaves a huge void for Virginia Tech on its current coaching staff.

Bowen’s last two seasons calling games have come into question with big struggles in non-conference games and the Hokies struggling to a 1-3 record in 2023 to 2-2 in 2024. Then his play-calling trended upward in ACC games, but there were still times when there was play-calling that would be a head-scratcher.

Now it will be interesting to see where Pry goes to hire his next offensive coordinator. Does he hire from within or does he do a search as he did before hiring Sam Siefkes from the Arizona Cardinals for the position? 

Bowen hasn't been an offensive line coach since 2017 when he was at Maryland, but interestingly enough, Ron Crook was one of the three coaches Pry fired back in December and he was replaced with Matt Moore from West Virginia. Bowen is a good offensive mind with plenty of experience in boht college and the NFL.