James Laurinaitis recalls initial conversations with Ryan Day about job opening

Ohio State has brought legendary former linebacker James Laurinaitis back as a graduate assistant with the program, connecting a great player from the past with players who could become that down the road. And Laurinaitis was kind enough to share what his initial conversations with Ryan Day looked like.

The first thing that stood out to the former Buckeyes star was how serious Day was about the offer to join the staff.

“He first inquired if it was something I’d be interested in, and I said I’d have to check with the boss, who is my wife,” Laurinaitis said. “She was, ‘Absolutely, as long as you feel like you’d be happy and have the same kind of impact on the linebacker room that I did up there.’ And then it just kind of kept going back and forth.”

It wasn’t quite as easy a pull as you might expect for an alumnus to return home.

For one, Laurinaitis had the luxury of serving as a graduate assistant at Notre Dame under a former Ohio State teammate, Marcus Freeman. So he had some level of familiarity and comfort in his previous job.

Day managed to overcome that to get Laurinaitis back in Columbus.

“You could sense his passion, that he really wanted to bring me back, that he thought the timing was right and that he really thought that I could help the room and help coach (Jim) Knowles out and just kind of be another voice there to kind of help,” Laurinaitis explained, describing the initial conversations with Ryan Day. “I think his determination was kind of the factor of, yeah, this isn’t just an information call, it’s something they really wanted to get done.”

Leaving Marcus Freeman wasn’t easy

Laurinaitis did ultimately opt to leave Freeman, but it wasn’t easy. The two played their college football together, and Laurinaitis had been a graduate assistant on Freeman’s staff with the Fighting Irish.

“I hate to let people down just by nature, that’s who I am,” Laurinaitis said. “It was tough, because Marcus and I go back to freshman year. In each others’ weddings and the whole deal. Thankfully Marcus was great about it. He basically said if that’s where you want to be, if that’s where your family wants to be, he’s like, ‘Then go back home.’”

The chief concern Laurinaitis had in leaving Freeman was inviting any bad blood between the two.

“I was worried; you never know how people will take that,” Laurinaitis said. “It’s a very competitive industry. And I love coach Freeman. But he was supportive in the sense of like, ‘Our friendship isn’t going to be altered by this.’ We’ve talked plenty of times since and so I’m confident that we’ll continue to stay close and be fine.”