FootballScoop is proud to announce that Ed Warinner (Ohio State) is the 2014 FootballScoop Offensive Line Coach of the Year presented by ProGrass.
It was another outstanding year for Ed Warinner in 2014, good enough to make him the first two-time winner of the FootballScoop Offensive Line Coach of the Year. Warinner joins Mark Helfrich, Kliff Kingsbury and Philip Montgomery as the only two time winners of a FootballScoop Coach of the Year award.
To understand how Ohio State won the Big Ten and reached the College Football Playoff with second and third-string quarterbacks and a first-time starter at running back, it all starts - where it always does - up front.
Warinner had to replace four starters from the 2013 season finale to the 2014 opener, and built an offensive line that paved the way for perhaps the most balanced offense in major college football.
The Buckeyes ranked 11th nationally in rushing at 260.7 yards per game, 10th in yards per carry (5.78) and 14th in rushing touchdowns (34). Through the air, Ohio State threw for 246.8 yards per game, ranked sixth in yards per attempt (9.2), fifth in touchdowns (39) and second in passing efficiency (172.37).
As a group, Ohio State ranked eighth nationally in total offense (507.6 yards per game), fifth in yards per play (7.04), sixth in plays of 10-plus yards (232), third in third down conversions (51.52 percent), fourth in scoring offense (45.2 points per game) and second in total touchdowns (79).
Put simply, J.T. Barrett does not set Ohio State records for total offense (3,772 yards) and touchdowns (49) and Ezekiel Elliott does not burst on the scene (1,610 total yards, 12 touchdowns) without Warinner's offensive line.
Individually, Buckeye offensive linemen Pat Elflein (first team) and Taylor Decker (second team) earned All-Big Ten honors from the league's coaches.
"Ed is the most organized and detail demanding coach I've ever worked with," said Ohio State offensive coordinator Tom Herman. "The preparation he puts in with his players is evident in the results on the field."
An original member of Urban Meyer's Ohio State staff, Warinner lettered in football and baseball at Mount Union from 1979-83. He jumped into coaching as Akron's running backs coach in 1984, and has since worked at Michigan State, Army, Air Force, put in two stints at Kansas, Illinois and Notre Dame before arriving in Columbus in 2012.
The FootballScoop Coaches of the Year awards presented by ProGrass are the only set of awards that recognize the most outstanding position coaches in college football. The finalists (Alex Atkins [Georgia Southern], John Hevesy [Mississippi State], Alex Mirabal [Marshall], Mark Staten [Michigan State], T.J. Woods [Wisconsin] and Warinner) were selected based off of nominations by coaches, athletic directors, and athletic department personnel. The prior winners selected this year's winner.
Warinner will receive his award and be recognized at an event at the AFCA Convention in January.
Previous winners of the Offensive Line Coach of the Year award are Steve Greatwood (Oregon, 2008), Tony Wise (Pittsburgh, 2009), Bob Bostad (Wisconsin, 2010) Greg Studrawa (LSU, 2011), Warinner (2012) and Mike Bloomgren (Stanford, 2013).
