Football
- Title:
- Co-Offensive Coordinator & Tight Ends Coach
Keenan Bailey, who just completed his 10th season on the Ohio State football staff, was promoted to tight ends coach in January 2023 by head coach Ryan Day. Bailey, who has steadily risen through the coaching ranks during his time in Columbus, held the position of senior advisor to the head coach in 2022 after working for three years as a quality control coach on offense, during which time he helped develop Ohio State’s record-setting wide receiver and quarterback units.
In his first season as tight ends coach, Bailey helped develop Cade Stover into a first team All-Big Ten selection and the program's first ever recipient of the Kwalick–Clark Tight End of the Year. Stover went on to be selected in the fourth round of the NFL Draft by the Houston Texans.
A year later, in 2024, Bailey was a member of the Buckeyes' CFP national championship-winning staff. That offseason, he earned a promotion to co-offensive coordinator. In 2025, five different tight ends caught passes for a Buckeyes team that was ranked No. 1 for most of the regular season. Max Klare, a transfer from Purdue, has one of the best statistical years of any tight end in Ohio State history, finishing with 43 catches for 448 yards and two touchdowns.
Prior to be elevated to tight ends coach, Bailey worked closely with Justin Frye during the 2022 season helping to develop the Ohio State offensive linemen.
“Keenan is an excellent coach,” Day said when sharing the news of his promotion. “He’s a really sharp young man who’s going to do unbelievable things in his career. And the relationships he’s built over time with former players, current players, recruits and family has been excellent. He’s got a very bright future ahead of him.”
In 2021 Bailey was named to 247Sports’ 30 Under 30 list. He earned his Master’s degree in 2018 from Ohio State in sports management. He has been part of four consecutive Big Ten Conference championship teams at Ohio State (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020) and also victories in the 2022 and 2019 Rose Bowls, the 2020 College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Sugar Bowl and the 2018 Fiesta Bowl.
Bailey first joined the Ohio State coaching staff in July of 2016 after spending two seasons at his alma mater, Notre Dame, working as a recruiting analyst for the Irish football program. He spent his first season with Ohio State as an offensive intern coaching the running backs before moving over to the wide receivers in 2017 and to the quarterbacks in 2019.
Bailey graduated from Notre Dame with his degree in American studies in 2016. A native of Pompano Beach, Fla, Bailey is married to the former Paige Johnson, who is from Hudson, Ohio. The couple resides in Columbus.
Keenan Bailey Quick Facts
Hometown: Pompano Beach, Fla.
High School: Cardinal Gibbons
Alma Mater: Notre Dame, 2016
Degree: American studies
Year in Coaching: Eighth (Eighth at Ohio State)
Wife: Paige
Keenan Bailey Coaching Assignments
2023 – Tight Ends, Ohio State
2022 – Special Assistant to the Head Coach / Quality Control / OL, Ohio State
2019-21 – Quality Control Coach / Quarterbacks, Ohio State
2017-18 – Offensive Intern / Wide Receivers, Ohio State
2016 – Offensive Intern / Running Backs, Ohio State
2014-15 – Recruiting Analyst, Notre Dame
