The Ohio State Buckeyes have officially hired Matt Patricia as their new defensive coordinator. One of the Oregon Ducks’ biggest inter-conference adversaries in the Big Ten secured a coach with extensive NFL experience. Patricia is an understudy of Bill Belichick, widely considered the greatest NFL coach of all time. Belichick won six Super Bowls as the head coach of the New England Patriots.
Patricia is a controversial choice after losing former defensive coordinator Jim Knowles to rival Penn State, but his résumé and experience are more worthy. Patricia spent 20 seasons in the NFL that included being the defensive coordinator for two Super Bowl winning teams with the New England Patriots. As a head coach, Patricia had a 13-29-1 record overall during three years with the Detroit Lions.
ESPN story on Ohio State finalizing Matt Patricia’s hire as the new defensive coordinator, per sources. Buckeyes also promote secondary coach Tim Walton to Co-DC and safeties coach Matt Guerrieri to defensive pass-game coordinator.https://t.co/HhQcFvMKyJ
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) February 12, 2025
Ohio State fielded the best defense in college football last season en route to the College Football Playoff national championship title. Almost the entire defensive line and various other key starters have departed for the National Football League and will soon be drafted. The type of talent the Buckeyes have to replace isn’t typical. Patricia will have arguably the best player in college football with safety Caleb Downs, but he’ll have to coach at a high level to sustain the level of dominance achieved this past season.
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Patricia spent the last football season on a recorded YouTube series “Coach” with Bill Belichick where the two broke down film with in-depth analysis and gameplanned how they would attack and stop an attack from opposing teams. While the endeavor was certainly catered to for media purposes, it was very much centered around football and was a way to stay sharp every week.
With over 20 years of experience, there aren’t many refreshers needed. Can Patricia take what he’s learned and use a rejuvenated sense of energy after a year away to build one of the best defensive units in college football? That’s the challenge ahead. There are no easy weeks in the Big Ten and as defending champions, they’ll get the best shot from everyone.
SOURCES: Ohio State is targeting former Lions head coach Matt Patricia to become its new defensive coordinator. The move would continue the trend of colleges hiring NFL defensive coaches to run their defenses. @mzenitz first reported the Patricia/Buckeyes connection.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) February 12, 2025
Ohio State and Oregon aren’t on each other’s 12-game regular season schedule, but could very easily cross paths by way of the Big Ten conference championship game or the College Football Playoff bracket. They’re also in various recruiting battles for major talents recruiting. Recent Ducks Signe Na’eem Offord was a longtime Buckeyes commitment before flipping and signing with Oregon and coach Dan Lanning.
The freshly-minted rivalry has extended beyond the field and has spilled over into recruiting and even onto social media as opposing fanbases have been going back and forth for over a year now. The two teams split the season series with one victory a piece in 2024, but Ohio State won the playoff game. Safe to say these two programs will be monitoring each other’s movements for the foreseeable future.
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