Ohio State fires Chris Holtmann after seven seasons
COLUMBUS — Ohio State is moving on from head coach Chris Holtmann after seven seasons.
Holtmann was fired Wednesday after the Buckeyes tied a program record with 16 consecutive losses in “true” road games Tuesday night at No. 20 Wisconsin. Ohio State hasn’t won at an opponent’s arena in 409 days, dating back to New Year’s Day last year.
Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde reported that the decision to fire Holtmann was made by current Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith, not incoming Buckeyes AD Ross Bjork.
Ohio State has found itself in a similar situation as last year when it started the season strong, even ranking in the AP Top 25 four weeks between Nov. 28 and Jan. 2. Then the Buckeyes dropped 14-of-15 games. Although they made a mini March push, most notably with a four-game run in the Big Ten Tournament, they still finished 2022-23 with the program’s first losing record since 2003-04.
This time around, Ohio State started the season 12-2 and was in the receiving votes section of the AP Poll. Now, however, the Buckeyes are again in free fall, losing 9-of-11 games between Jan. 6 and Feb. 13.
Holtmann was 26-30 in January after taking over for Thad Matta as head coach in 2017-18. Take away Holtmann’s first year on the job, and his January record plummets to 18-29.
What he did, or didn’t do, in March was a blemish on his Buckeyes resume, too. While Holtmann led Ohio State to the NCAA Tournament the four years it was played from 2018-22, his Buckeyes teams never made it past the Round of 32. In other words, Holtmann never made the Sweet Sixteen at Ohio State after Matta coached the program to five Sweet Sixteens during his 13-year run.
It’s worth noting that arguably Holtmann’s best team — a 21-10 squad that ranked top-20 in KenPom adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency in 2019-20 — didn’t get to play in the NCAA Tournament after March Madness was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Smith, who is retiring at the end of June, signed Holtmann to an extension through the 2027-28 season in May 2022. Now that Holtmann’s contract has been terminated before its expiration, he’ll be owed his full remaining salary, which is $12.8 million.
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Holtmann was asked about his extension during last year’s spiral and said that he and Smith shared “an understanding” prior to the 2022-23 season about how they wanted to shape the roster going forward.
Recruiting success and player development seemed to play a big part in Smith extending Holtmann’s original eight-year contract. The last two years, he signed back-to-back classes that each clocked out No. 8 in the country, according to the On3 Industry Ranking. He also helped four Ohio State players hear their names called in the NBA Draft — Keita Bates-Diop (2018), E.J. Liddell (2022), Malaki Branham (2022) and Brice Sensabaugh (2023) — including three in the past two years.
Except, the closest Ohio State came to winning a championship during Holtmann’s seven years is when the Buckeyes finished as Big Ten Tournament runner-ups in 2020-21. That season, of course, ended with Ohio State’s infamous loss to 15th-seeded Cinderella Oral Roberts in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Ohio State will start a search for its next head coach at the end of the season, according to the program’s release, which also states that incoming AD Ross Bjork will lead the search.
Although Bjork officially begins as AD on July 1, he will get started in an interim role as senior advisor to Smith, reporting to university president Ted Carter, on March 1.
