Ohio State has managed to hold on to all of its potential transfers and early NFL Draft entrants, but the Buckeyes have still suffered some attrition following their national championship.
Tom Herman left last month to take over at Houston, and now running backs coach Stan Drayton has departed for the Chicago Bears. The club announced the hiring earlier Thursday.#Bears have hired Stan Drayton as running backs coach; he spent last 4 years at Ohio State, helped Buckeyes win national title in ’14.
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) February 5, 2015
Drayton spent the past four seasons on the Ohio State staff. He coached wide receivers during Luke Fickell‘s season as interim head coach, then was retained and moved to running backs by new head coach Urban Meyer. He was promoted to assistant head coach in 2013 and, prior to that, interviewed for the Temple job that eventually went to Matt Rhule.
Drayton worked for Meyer twice previously, as Florida’s running backs coach in 2005-07 and then again in 2010.
The Bears job will be Drayton’s first full-time coaching position in the NFL. He previously served as an offensive/special teams quality control assistant for the Green Bay Packers from 2001-03.
Drayton produced a 1,000-yard runner (or darn close to it) in all three seasons handling the Buckeyes’ running backs. Carlos Hyde rushed for 970 yards in 2012 and 1,521 yards in 2013, and Ezekiel Elliott notched an impressive 1,878 yards and 18 touchdowns in route to the national title.
(Photo credit: Ohio State athletics)