The Ohio State football team won a national championship just a few weeks ago, and they are now experiencing some of the negative effects of winning a championship. Any team that is good enough to win it all has a great coaching staff, and it's hard to keep assistants around after capturing a championship. The Buckeyes lost offensive coordinator Chip Kelly to the NFL, and they lost defensive coordinator Jim Knowles to Penn State. Now, head coach Ryan Day is considering Matt Patricia for the open DC role.
“Matt Patricia was in Columbus yesterday meeting with Ohio State about its defensive coordinator opening, sources tell
@CBSSports/@247Sports,” Matt Zenitz said in a post. “The former Detroit Lions head coach was the New England Patriots’ defensive coordinator from 2012-17.”
Matt Patricia was most recently a senior defensive assistant for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2023. He has been coaching since 1996 and has primarily worked as a defensive coach. He also worked with offensive lines, and he was the head coach of the Detroit Lions for three seasons.
Patricia is most well-known for his defensive coordinator role with the New England Patriots during their dynasty years. Patricia was part of some elite teams as he won three Super Bowls with the Patriots, and he ended up earning a head coaching gig because of the job he did. Unfortunately, things didn't work out well for him with the Lions as the organization decided to move on after three years.
After the Lions moved on from Patricia, he went back to the Patriots and worked as a senior football advisor for one season before adding on offensive line coach duties the next year. Patricia was with the Eagles in 2023, and he was not with any team this past season. Now, he has a chance to go back to the college game for the first time since 2003 to be the Ohio State football defensive coordinator.
Matt Patricia didn't end up doing a good job as a head coach in the NFL, but he has a ton of experience coaching defenses. It would be interesting to see him make a move back to college.