In one of the more surprising hires of the college football coaching carousel, Ryan Day and Ohio State Football is finalizing a deal to bring former Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia to Columbus as the Buckeyes’ next defensive coordinator.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel was the first to report the news on Wednesday.
According to 247Sports’ Matt Zentiz, Patricia was in Columbus on Tuesday to meet with Day and Ohio State about the vacancy left by Jim Knowles, who departed OSU to take the same position at Penn State this offseason. Just a day later, Day and the Buckeyes have their man.
Sources: Ohio State is finalizing a deal to hire Matt Patricia as the school’s new defensive coordinator. Patricia was an NFL head coach with the Lions and longtime DC with the New England Patriots. pic.twitter.com/NdCTsCMVBz
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) February 12, 2025
News of Ohio State’s reported hire of Patricia has been met with amusement in the state of Michigan, who have only sour memories of his time as head coach of the Lions. From 2018-20 under Patricia’s leadership, Detroit posted a dismal record of 13-29, finished in last place in the NFC North in each of his two full seasons and the Lions were in last place at the time of his firing in 2020.
Patricia struggled to get along with players in Detroit, most notably All-Pro cornerback Darius Slay, whom the Lions traded to Philadelphia early in Patricia’s tenure. Slay publicly declared his lack of respect for Patricia ahead of the 2020 season.
Patricia served as defensive coordinator of the New England Patriots for six seasons under then-head coach Bill Belichick, where the tandem fielded several successful defenses and won three Super Bowls. However, after stepping out from under Belichick’s wing in 2018, Patricia found little success in Detroit, or in a brief stint with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2023. Now, he’ll try his luck in the college ranks with the Buckeyes.
According to Thamel, Ohio State is promoting secondary coach Tim Walton to co-defensive coordinator to assist Patricia, and the Buckeyes will also promote safeties coach Matt Guerrieri as pass-game coordinator.
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