College football News and notes

Ohio State: Former Indiana coach Kevin Wilson has been hired to help direct the Buckeyes’ struggling offense.

The university said Tuesday that Wilson will be co-offensive coordinator with the newly hired Ryan Day and also coach tight ends. Wilson takes over the duties of Ed Warinner, who was expected to take a job on the staff of newly hired Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck.

Wilson went 26-47 in six seasons at Indiana and last season led the Hoosiers to their first bowl game since 2007. He resigned abruptly in December because of what athletic director Fred Glass described as a difference in leadership styles. He had previous coaching stops at Miami, Northwestern and Oklahoma.

Ohio State coach Urban Meyer replaced offensive coaches after passing game troubles that led to a 31-0 pounding by Clemson in the College Football Playoff.

South Carolina: Former Youngstown State head coach and San Francisco 49ers assistant Eric Wolford has returned to the Gamecocks coaching staff.

Coach Will Muschamp announced the hire Monday. Wolford takes over for Shawn Elliott, who was South Carolina’s offensive line coach before leaving last month to become Georgia State’s head coach.

Wolford spent the past two seasons as assistant offensive line coach for the 49ers. He left South Carolina after the 2009 season to become the head coach at YSU, where he compiled a 31-26 record over four seasons. Prior to that, Wolford worked at Illinois, Arizona, North Texas, Houston and South Florida.

Wolford said he’s happy to return to South Carolina and believes the Gamecocks are moving in a positive direction.

Michigan: Jabrill Peppers is taking his do-it-all talent to the NFL.

The Heisman Trophy finalist announced his plans Tuesday to enter the draft and skip his senior season at Michigan.

“It’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do,” Peppers said in an interview with Sports Illustrated. “I’m choosing between cementing my legacy as a college player and starting my pro legacy. It’s something you dream of when you were a kid. I was torn between the two.”

Peppers told the magazine he made his decision last week while with his family in New Jersey and told coach Jim Harbaugh on Monday.

The 6-foot-1, 205-pound Peppers is projected to be a first-round pick in April.

He did not play for the sixth-ranked Wolverines in a 33-32 loss to No. 10 Florida State on Dec. 31 in the Orange Bowl because of an injured left hamstring.

Peppers led the Wolverines with 16 tackles for losses, including four sacks, ranked third with 72 tackles, had one interception and forced a fumble as a junior. He had 27 carries for 181 yards and three touchdowns on offense. On special teams, he returned a punt for a score in a win over Colorado and averaged a Big Ten-best 14.8 yards on punt returns and averaged 26 yards on kickoff returns.

Florida State: Offensive tackle Rod Johnson, who has been a mainstay on Florida State’s offensive line, will forego his final season of eligibility to enter the NFL draft.

Johnson started 31 straight games at left tackle for the Seminoles, who were 10-3 this season and ranked eighth in the final Top 25 poll. He has won the Jacobs Blocking Trophy the past two seasons, which is given to the top offensive lineman in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

He said in a statement on Tuesday that he made the decision after further discussions with family.

Johnson is the second Florida State player to announce he is leaving early. Running back Dalvin Cook, who rushed for a school-record 4,464 yards during his career, announced his intentions on Dec. 31.

Associated Press