Ohio State head coach Ryan Day has been here before.
Last year, after bringing Bill O’Brien to Columbus for an extremely short stay, Day made a bold decision to bring his mentor and former NFL head coach Chip Kelly to Columbus take over the Buckeyes’ offense.
Kelly, who decided to go back to the college game after a year off in 2017, was looking for a change after leading the UCLA Bruins from 2018-2024. While most people couldn’t understand why Kelly would want to leave a head coaching job to be a coordinator, the move worked perfectly and Ohio State won the College Football Playoff National Championship for the first time since 2014.
Reports have come out of Columbus suggesting that Day may be thinking about making a similar type of hire now that he’s looking to replace former defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, who bolted for the same job at Penn State.
Matt Zenith of CBS Sports is reporting that former Detroit Lions head coach and long-time New England Patriots’ defensive coordinator Matt Patricia was in Columbus recently for an interview.
The rare crossover breed of Lions-and-Buckeyes’ fans have to be cringing in hearing Patricia’s name brought up in this instance, but this could actually be a brilliant move for Day and the Buckeyes.
Sure, Patricia’s time as the head coach in Detroit was a disaster, but he’s always been known for his borderline-genius defensive mind.
This is a coordinator who has three Super Bowl rings. Those types of assistants don’t just grow on trees – even for programs like Ohio State. Day and the Buckeyes wouldn’t be asking Patricia to run a team, anyhow. His only job would be to call the defense and work a little bit on the recruiting trial, and he has shown the ability to do the former at an extremely high level.
Patricia has been off-the-radar for most casual NFL fans since his 13-29-1 stint in Detroit, but he did go back and serve as an advisor (and strangely, an offensive line coach) for Bill Belichick and the Patriots in 2021 and 2022. He was also a senior defensive assistant for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2023.
Perhaps all Patricia needs is a chance to work under a coach like Ryan Day and focus solely on defense. After all, focusing solely on offense worked out great for Kelly, who himself wasn’t a great NFL head coach.
The point is, the precedent is there in Columbus: what Kelly was for OSU’s offense in 2024, Patricia can be for the Buckeyes’ defense in 2025 and beyond.
MORE: Ohio State Buckeyes QB Julian Sayin Receives Major Prediction
MORE: Ohio State Buckeyes Consider Former Bill Belichick Assistant for DC
MORE: Ohio State Buckeyes Standout Forward Gets Major Injury Update
MORE: Ohio State Buckeyes Make Another Major Coaching Change
MORE: Ohio State Targeting Chiefs Coach for Defensive Coordinator
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
