Ohio State running backs coach Tony Alford left for archrival Michigan on Wednesday.
It was an abrupt departure for Alford, who spent nine seasons with the Buckeyes after he was hired by former coach Urban Meyer in 2015.
Here’s a look back on the defining moments of Alford’s stint in Columbus, spanning the second half of Meyer’s tenure into the Ryan Day era:
Single-season rushing highs
Alford coached running backs as they posted some of the most prolific seasons in school history.
It was a group led by J.K. Dobbins, who became Ohio State’s first-ever 2,000-yard rusher in 2019.
After Dobbins’ 2,003-yard season, he finished sixth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy, the best finish by a Buckeyes back since Eddie George captured the prestigious player of the year award in 1995.
Four years before Dobbins set the single-season school record, Ezekiel Elliott also amassed 1,821 yards on the ground, a total that is the fourth-most rushing yards in a year at Ohio State.
Dobbins and Elliott rank second and third on the Buckeyes’ career rushing yards list with 4,459 and 3,961, respectively, trailing only the legendary Archie Griffin.
Dip in production
TreVeyon Henderson led the Buckeyes with 926 rushing yards last fall.
Miyan Williams had a team-high 825 yards the previous year.
It was the first time since 2004 and 2003 that Ohio State went consecutive years without a 1,000-yard rusher.
Injuries contributed to the lower totals as Henderson was sidelined for three games after taking a shot at Notre Dame last September and Williams missed two while banged up in 2022, but it was still a disappointing trend for Ohio State.
In Alford’s first five seasons with the Buckeyes, their leading rusher averaged 1,475 yards.
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Swings in recruiting
While on the recruiting trail, Alford suffered a handful of high-profile misses.
Jordan Lyle flipped his verbal commitment to Miami on the eve of the early signing period last December, mirroring the move made by Mark Fletcher from the previous cycle.
Fletcher, another four-star running back recruit from South Florida, also de-committed from Ohio State in order to stay home.
The loss of Fletcher had kept the Buckeyes from signing a back as part of their 2023 recruiting class and prompted them to sign multiple this past winter.
Then there was Bijan Robinson, the top running back in the 2020 class who appeared to be on the verge of committing to Ohio State before he ended up at Texas, where he developed into an All-American and became the No. 8 overall pick in the NFL draft last spring.
But there were more wins than losses. Over nine full recruiting cycles with the Buckeyes, Alford helped sign six high school running backs who were among the top-100 players in the nation in the 247Sports composite rankings.
That included Henderson, who was the top back in his class and the highest-ranked recruit the Buckeyes had signed at the position since Beanie Wells in 2006.
Alford also helped to bring Trey Sermon and Quinshon Judkins to Ohio State as transfers.
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Staff longevity
Alford had been a fixture on staff, the second-longest tenured assistant after defensive line coach Larry Johnson.
His tenure was also the longest for a running backs coach at Ohio State since Tim Spencer led the position group 1994 to 2003.
The Buckeyes have had continuity among their running backs coaches over the past few decades.
Between the tenures of Alford and Spencer, Stan Drayton was the running backs coach from 2012-14 following Dick Tressel from 2004-11.
While Alford stayed for nearly a decade at Ohio State, there were previous opportunities for Alford to leave.
The most public situation was in late 2021 when Brian Kelly attempted to bring him to LSU after he replaced Ed Orgeron at the helm.
Alford also interviewed for the head coaching job at Colorado State, his alma mater, in 2019, before the job went to Steve Addazio.
Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch and can be reached at jkaufman@dispatch.com.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Tony Alford leaves Ohio State football for Michigan: OSU highlights
