Report: Ohio State assistant defensive line coach Tony Washington Jr. hired by Kentucky

COLUMBUS — Ohio State defensive line assistant Tony Washington Jr. was a big help to Larry Johnson and the Buckeyes defense this season, his first with the program.

Now he is heading to a new stop to continue his coaching career. Washington was hired by Kentucky as the school’s new defensive line coach Sunday, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Tony Washington Jr. is a former UCLA outside linebackers coach and defensive line coach who worked with the defensive line under Larry Johnson for the Buckeyes, taking over the role that LaAllan Clark vacated last offseason when he took the outside linebackers coaching role at Texas. Washington was at Ohio State for just one season.

Washington Jr. served as the UCLA outside linebackers coach and defensive line coach in 2024, but he was at Oregon as the outside linebackers coach in 2023, was the Ducks assistant defensive line coach in 2022, served as the Director of Player Development at Oregon in 2021 and was a graduate assistant at Nebraska in 2019 and 2020. That’s where he worked with new Kentucky head coach and former Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein.

The former Oregon linebacker played for the Ducks from 2012-2015, including playing on the 2014 Oregon team that lost to Ohio State in the national championship game. He was an undrafted free agent to the Houston Texans in 2015 and played in Houston for the 2015 and 2016 seasons. He also played for the Tennessee Titans practice squad for two seasons before getting into coaching.

Tony Washington Jr. is a Los Angeles, California, native.