Ohio State announces plans for updates to football field

The Ohio State Buckeyes are upgrading the field at the horseshoe just in time for the 2022 season. The Buckeyes plan on updating their home stadium with a few subtle changes. But fans of the traditional scarlet and grey Buckeyes look, have no fear, all the updates were done in good taste and stick close to the traditional look.

Ohio State is going to update the trim on their football field from white to grey. Along with that, the outlining of the end zone lettering and midfield “O“ will change to grey too. The font used for the yard line numbers will now match the numbers used on the players’ uniforms. While the x’s designating the kickoff locations at the 35-yard line have will be replaced by Buckeye leaves. The Buckeyes new look comes complete with a brand new turf field. They will break out the new turf after the Buckeyes scarlet and grey spring ball game.

The updated look was not something the Ohio State brass did solely on their own. Back in October of 2021, Ohio State held an open call for fans to submit their own ideas on stadium design. The team then took into consideration the percentages based on each design and made an Upgrade plan that encompassed some of those fan ideas.

Ryan Day on Ohio States latest hire

The Ohio State Buckeyes and head coach Ryan Day were able to grab one of the hottest defensive coordinators on the market in Oklahoma State’s Jim Knowles this offseason. The Bryant Award finalist will be replacing Kerry Coombs after four seasons at Oklahoma State.

During his National Signing Day press conference, Ryan Day addressed the lengthy conversations he had with Jim Knowles over the weeks leading up to the hire and what set him apart as a candidate.

“There was a lot of conversation,” said Day. “I think he would probably say to you – by the end, I asked to do a couple more FaceTimes and a couple more Zooms – and he probably was wondering, ‘what else does he want to see.’ But I did, I wanted to do that because I know how important this hire was.

“At the end of the day, I was really looking for a head coach of the defense. And certainly, his background and all the people that have worked for him, and with him, have said such unbelievable things. You watch the film of the way his team plays, they play hard, they have a system, they have answers and they’ve done a great job developing. … It seemed like the best fit. And at the end of the day, we had some certain things that we had some common ground on.”

Since he took over in 2018, the Cowboys’ defenses have steadily improved under Knowles. During his first season in charge, they gave up an average of 32.5 points per game. This season, Knowles’ unit also has the best scoring defense in the Big 12 at 16.8 points per game and nearly got them a conference championship.