Dylan Barron

Position: Assistant Head Coach / Defensive Coordinator / Linebackers Coach

Alma Mater: The Ohio State University, 2019

Bio: Dylan Barron completed his fourth season as Ohio State’s defensive coordinator in 2024, and helped the Buckeyes back to the mountaintop of the NCFA with a 9-1 record and a national title.

After being named the 2023 NCFA Assistant Coach of the Year, Barron followed up in 2024 with a defense that surrendered just 8.3 points per game and saw defensive end Matthew Humphreys named NCFA Defensive Player of the Year, the first Buckeye in team history to win the award. Barron’s defense posted three shutouts in 2024, surrendering just 20 total points to NCFA opponents.

Barron first joined Ohio State’s staff as defensive coordinator in 2019 and returned in 2021 before a brief stint as the tight ends coach at Oberlin College in Spring of 2022. He spent the majority of 2022 as an assistant coach at Miami Beach High School in Florida, where he also spent the 2020 campaign when the NCFA season was canceled due to COVID-19.

In his first season as a coach, Barron’s defense surrendered just six touchdowns in nine games (one forfeit), none of which came through the air. Under his tutelage, the Ohio State defense allowed just 5.4 points per game on its way to the first national championship in program history. For his efforts, he was unanimously voted the assistant coach of the year by Ohio State’s players.

Despite having to revamp the Ohio State defense after a year away due to COVID-19, Barron’s defense thrived upon its return in 2021. Returning just one starter from the 2019 team, Barron’s defense still broke program records for sacks (41) and interceptions (14) in a single season, en route to repeating as national champions. Against NCFA opponents, Barron’s defense surrendered just 12.6 points per game in 2021, including a pair of shutouts against Oakland and Miami (OH).

Barron was a five-year starter for the Buckeyes at linebacker and was elected captain multiple times by his peers. As a senior in 2018, he helped lead the program to its first ever division championship, a massive turnaround from his first two seasons on campus, in which the team went 6-7 overall. He set the program record for tackles with 136, a number that stood until 2024 when its was passed by Christian Allen, whom Barron coached for two seasons.