ATLANTA — Southbound drivers on I-75 have probably noticed the sign, the one in Perrysburg that lists the mileages to destinations near and far.
Bowling Green 12
Cincinnati 193
Atlanta 652
The moral: It’s a long way from Bowling Green to Atlanta.
And for one Ohio State football coach here this week ahead of Saturday’s playoff semifinal against Georgia, it probably feels even farther.
Five years ago, Perry Eliano was the defensive coordinator at Bowling Green when his career reached a painful crossroads. He was fired by his good friend, former Falcons coach Mike Jinks, who himself would be dismissed the next season.
“I just didn’t get the job done,” Eliano said. “That’s part of the business.”
■ Who: No. 4 Ohio State vs. No. 1 Georgia.
■ When: Dec. 31, 8 p.m.
■ TV: ESPN.
■ Line: Georgia by 6½.
Flash forward to today, and to say he’s picked himself up would be an understatement.
I caught up with Eliano on Thursday at Peach Bowl media day as he prepared to coach in the playoffs for the second straight year.
After Bowling Green, he found a lifeline as the cornerbacks coach at New Mexico, then spent two years in the same role at Cincinnati — where he played no small part in the Bearcats’ magical run last season — before getting a call from what he called “the best place in college football.”
Eliano, 44, is now in his first year as safeties coach for the Buckeyes, helping along a secondary that — with the exception of a handful of busted plays against Michigan — has evolved from a question mark last season to an exclamation point this one.
From the low of his ending at Bowling Green, he could hardly be riding higher.
“It’s just a blessing to be here,” Eliano said. “Really, I am blessed.”
Looking back, he told me he wouldn’t trade his path here for anything, the uneven journey making the climb all the more rewarding.
That includes his time at Bowling Green.
Eliano had spent five years as the safeties coach at Texas-San Antonio when he looked to land his big break in 2016 — a defensive coordinator post on Jinks’ first staff at BG.
It didn’t work out. He was fired after his second season, when BG went 2-10 and ranked 126th nationally in defense.
“Coach Jinks did what he had to do,” Eliano said. “We still talk to this day. I respect him for what he did and he gave me an opportunity. There are no hard feelings. I get it. I didn't get it done.”
I asked him what he learned at Bowling Green.
“A lot about myself,” he said. “You’ve got to be strong, not just for your family, but for those young men looking at you. I don’t take those two years lightly. You just have to keep grinding. There’s no quit here. The perseverance you talk about with your players, you have to be an example of that as well. So you just keep going.”
And so he did, and so he has.
His big break instead came at Cincinnati. In his two seasons there, the Bearcats went 22-2 and featured one of the top passing defenses in the nation. Last year, one of his cornerbacks, Coby Bryant, won the Thorpe Award as the country’s most outstanding defensive back; the other, Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner earned All-American honors and was drafted fourth overall by the Jets.
Eliano’s good work has since continued at Ohio State, where he’s fit in well in new coordinator Jim Knowles’ safety-driven defense. The Buckeyes’ pass defense ranks 15th nationally, up from 96th last season.
“Perry has a very upbeat personality and is a great teacher,” Knowles told me. “He knows how to motivate players and to push them. That’s really important to have that ability where you’re not grinding so much that you turn a player off, but you’re still pushing him.”
Added safety Tanner McCalister: “He's brought a lot of energy and experience and knowledge. He’s the type of coach where when he’s teaching you something, not only will he show you on film, he’ll give you examples on film of other people doing it, and he’ll even try to demonstrate it in practice ... if he can. All of us in the safety room appreciate him. It’s been a blessing to be able to learn from him.”
For Eliano, meanwhile, the blessing is all his.
He’s still going, still grinding, and, as grateful as he is for his past opportunities, he appreciates how far he’s come.
Where he and the Buckeyes are going could be pretty special, too.
“There's nothing like playing in this type of environment,” Eliano said of Saturday night’s game. “This is why you grind in the offseason. This is why you work so hard, why you put in the hours as a coach, to get tot his moment, to be playing in the CFP semifinals for a chance to go to the national championship and win. We’re here and we’re excited.”
First Published December 29, 2022, 9:38 p.m.
