In the early 2010s, Brian Metz, a native of Pennsylvania, perused the sidelines at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. Metz found himself a role as student manager at one of the best football programs in the nation.
Since then, Metz has climbed the coaching tree and became Ohio's tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator.
"I don't think when I was a student assistant, or student manager rather, that I considered a career with coaching," Metz said. "I was at Notre Dame, and you know the mystique and everything that surrounds Notre Dame football, I just felt lucky to be around it … During that time, it was just the joy of being involved with something that was just a big and important enterprise."
Metz, of course, did not make the jump from a mere student assistant straight up to holding two vital positions within a D1 football program at Ohio. It was a long journey as Metz held a plethora of different positions at several different programs and levels of football.
In his senior year at Notre Dame, Metz took on a position coaching high school football. Metz didn't know he wanted to pursue a career in coaching, but he knew he loved it.
"As an athlete growing up, I experienced a lot of personal growth and personal development through sports," Metz said. "I had a lot of great coaches. Sports push you to challenge yourself, get outside your comfort zone and grow as an athlete and a person. I had some great football experiences."
Metz was born in Pennsylvania but moved around a lot during his childhood. He graduated from Knoxville Catholic High School in Knoxville, Tennessee.
In his senior year of high school, Metz was part of a state-winning football team, an experience he has never forgotten. That year, Metz experienced growth through sports and love for sports firsthand.
"I knew that I wanted to be a part of that growth process for other people, so that led me to coach," Metz said.
After graduating from Notre Dame in 2013 with an undergraduate degree, Metz searched for a graduate program to pursue a Master's in Sports Management. This is how Metz found Ohio University and Athens.
"I came here for grad school in 2013 and was in the sports administration grad program and pretty quickly realized that I wanted to go into coaching," Metz said. "I came over and started volunteering in 2013 with the staff. I started working in recruiting and then kind of earned the trust of the coaching staff and became the graduate student assistant."
Metz has been a part of Ohio's football program on and off since 2013. In 2015, Metz earned a Master's in Business Administration and Sports Administration. After earning his degrees, Metz interned at the University of Memphis, where he worked as an offensive intern with future NFL players like Tony Pollard and Anthony Miller.
After a brief stint with Memphis in 2015, Metz returned to Ohio in 2016 and worked with the Ohio wide receivers until 2018. After the 2018 season, Metz made his second exit from the program to become a graduate assistant for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. At UNLV, Metz worked with quarterbacks and met future Ohio quarterback Armani Rodgers.
In 2020, Metz returned to Ohio, bringing Rodgers with him. He also began his current role as a tight ends coordinator. From then on, Metz has only gained more and more responsibility within the program.
“My favorite coaching position that I’ve had is this one,” Metz said. “This has definitely been the most responsibility. I was able to gain the trust of Coach (Frank) Solich and Coach (Tim) Albin when he was the offensive coordinator. Having worked for Albin for three years as a graduate assistant. The more you’re around, the more you do, the more trust you earn with those people. So, they keep giving you more responsibilities.”
While Metz has had multiple tenures with different programs, he always found himself back in Athens.
“It’s the people,” Metz said. “Coaching, like many professions, is a relationship-based industry. There are plenty of people who are qualified to be the tight ends coach at Ohio University but having worked with these guys before, I was roped back in. Both times, it was a call from Coach Albin that brought me back … Another thing is that I did meet my wife here; we are both Bobcats. As far as a place that means something as a school, this is really special.”
