CFP national championship a reunion of former SRU assistant coaches Rob Keys, Al Washington
During the few weeks leading up to last week’s College Football Playoff national championship game, Rob Keys would walk into Ohio State’s facility each morning and past the trophy the Buckeyes won in 2014.
As part of Ryan Day’s coaching staff, Keys was striving toward giving that hardware some company. Ohio State’s 34-23 victory in Atlanta did just that.
Keys and Al Washington, Notre Dame’s defensive line coach and defensive run game coordinator, coached against one another in that title matchup. Both have ties to Butler County, having worked together as assistants at Slippery Rock University in the late 2000s. A Buckeyes offensive analyst, Billy Fessler, also previously coached for The Rock.
“As we started the playoffs, you know, you walk by and take a look at it and just think, ‘Man, you’re a couple games away from getting that,’” Keys said. “For that to come true, it’s the culmination of a lot of hard work.”
Keys coached SRU’s defensive backs and was its special teams coordinator from 2006-09. Washington coached at the Rock from 2009-10.
That was Washington’s first full-time coaching gig. He also coached at Elon, Boston College, Cincinnati, Michigan and Ohio State before landing in South Bend. Washington coached Ohio State’s linebackers from 2019-21 — reaching and losing the national title game in 2021 — then joined Marcus Freeman’s Fighting Irish staff in 2022.
He helped recruit a number of his national title game opponents, including Jack Sawyer, Sonny Styles and TreVeyon Henderson. Henderson rushed for over 1,000 yards as part of a backfield tandem with Quinshon Judkins, Sawyer had a game-sealing strip sack against Texas in the Cotton Bowl quarterfinal and Styles had six tackles and a sack against Notre Dame.
“Before the game, you hear all of these guys that you recruited or you coached ... and everybody’s cheering,” Washington said. “You just feel appreciative, feel thankful. ... To be at Ohio State and go there and then come, four years later at another school, and be in there is pretty cool.”
Keys wrapped up his third season with the Buckeyes by raising the trophy. He oversaw Ohio State’s special teams unit this year, aiding with game planning and setting up schemes. He called the unit’s plays on game days.
“You look at ... how some of the games ended up, a bad play on special teams can cost you a game,” Keys said. “A big play on special teams can change the momentum. ... Some of our better players play on our teams. They understand how important those plays are. It’s definitely not overlooked here.”
Keys was current SRU football coach Shawn Lutz’s roommate and teammate at West Virginia. The two exchange text messages and talk “probably every other week during the season,” Keys said.
“It was pretty cool to be a part of that staff,” Keys said. “Shawn and I spent time on the field together at WVU, and then we had the opportunity to coach together. One of my better friends in this profession and in life.”
Washington’s roots with The Rock also run deep. He tuned in to watch Lutz’s team play Ferris State in the Division II national quarterfinals in December and keeps an SRU helmet in his basement.
“I learned a lot, I think, just dealing with people and coaching from the heart,” Washington said.
When Keys took over as head coach at the University of Findlay in 2010, he hired Washington, who was on the Oilers’ staff for just two weeks before Elon called with an opportunity for Washington to coach its linebackers.
The two briefly spoke after the national championship game was over.
“I just congratulated him, man,” Washington said. “He’s one of the hardest-working coaches I’ve ever known. ... I respect so much about the way he goes about his business.”
“I know how he felt,” Keys said. “I’ve been in those situations. I’ve been on the other side of those, and he’s been on the other side, as well. We talked for a second. We’ll definitely catch up later on.”
Keys hadn’t won a national title before. He and Lutz played on a Big East-champion Mountaineers team in 1993 that was undefeated heading into a Sugar Bowl clash with Florida, but they lost 41-7.
“I’d like to do it again,” Keys said of raising the trophy.
Washington, meanwhile, hopes that a third time would be the charm.
“I’ve got to go another time, but hopefully it’s the next time I win it,” Washington said.
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