The Urban Meyer era continues to influence Ryan Day’s tenure. As the Buckeyes’ head coach retools his staff for the 2026 season, he’s brought back a key staffer from the 2014 Natty-winning team. This coach was an integral Buckeye during his playing career and is a popular figure on campus.

Ryan Day has officially hired Anthony Schlegel to the strength and conditioning staff. The star linebacker and former Buckeye stepped into an interim position at that department in 2024 after a staffer had to be away because of surgery. Schlegel wasn’t hired by Meyer, but he was with him as an assistant coach during the early part of the head coach’s tenure. He later followed him to the NFL when the former head coach accepted the same role with Jacksonville.

Anthony Schlegel was also a defensive star in his own right. He played as a linebacker at Columbus during the 2004 and 2005 seasons. In his very first year as a Buckeye, Schlegel finished with 84 tackles, the third-highest total on the team. And in 2005, his 82 tackles were the second most on the team. He was drafted by the Jets in 2006 in the third round. Buckeye icons Bobby Carpenter, A.J. Hawk, and Anthony Schlegel made for one of the strongest LB attacks in the country at that time.

The strength coach’s NFL career was short-lived, but he still made a significant contribution to football with his genius. He started a fitness equipment company called The Difference USA. During his first stint on the Buckeyes’ staff, Schlegel designed The Difference Striking Machine, a portable striking device sold to football teams across the country.

Schlegel never took on a notable role as a strength and conditioning coach in any of his stints. But his work was notable enough to earn him some repute. Mark Howeth, a football coach from the Texas circuit, spoke highly of Schlegel’s career at Ohio State.

“I guess the thing I was most impressed about is if a kid was a 300-pound bench presser, he was gonna end up doing 320, if a kid was a 400-pound squatter, he was gonna end up doing 450,” he told Cleveland.com. “He’s a guy who can get in there and make you do it. Whether that’s technique or knowledge on different lifts, he found a way to get it done in that weight room.”

The publication also described him as “the guy behind the guy, behind the guy,” relating to Urban Meyer crediting head strength coach Mickey Marotti as his “right-hand” man. Throughout these years, Schlegel has played an integral role in developing the physique that OSU footballers are known for. However, Schlegel also became famous for a wild moment on the sidelines, which also acts as the perfect testament to the strength he possesses.

Anthony Schlegel is a pop-culture icon in the OSU community

True Buckeye fans can recall an extremely weird but popular photo of Schlegel, which happened during Meyer’s championship-winning season. ‘Twas the Cincinnati game, and an unruly fan had gotten past the guards in the stands. Anthony Schlegel snapped into action before the fan could make matters worse. He got into a pose that cemented his legacy forever at Columbus.

Schlegel got hold of the fan’s neck and back, completely slamming into his body. Unlike the popular phrase, the fan very much knew what—or who—had hit him in that brief moment of pandemonium. The strength coach became an internet icon after that move. Urban Meyer had to reprimand him for his antics, but he also couldn’t help but appreciate the effort.

“I appreciate him protecting our players,” the former head coach said days after the game. “I would rather him not have a lawsuit if something bad happens; you drill a guy like that. So we had a partial serious conversation. And then we also gave him a Hit City Award, our team, and had a little fun with it, too.”

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With Anthony Schlegel’s return, Buckeye footballers will be in for a ride if they know his reputation. The energy he’s known for in the strength room was perfectly captured in that iconic photo, and it’s also something Schlegel wants to help his students achieve.