Ohio State to hire defensive coordinator Michigan fans might actually approve of

Michigan football fans didn’t exactly have a reason to fear former Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, who improved the Buckeye defense to best in the country this past year. Because the Wolverines never lost to Knowles, even when his defenses performed admirably over the past few seasons.

Now Ohio State appears to be making a hire to replace him that Michigan fans from or within the state of Michigan will actually approve of. And no, that isn’t exactly good for the Buckeyes.

According to ESPN college football insider Pete Thamel, Ryan Day and OSU appear to be poised to hire one Matt Patricia to oversee a rebuilding Ohio State defense this coming season. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because Patricia is the disgraced former Detroit Lions head coach who cratered a Jim Caldwell-led playoff team into one of the worst NFL teams over the course of his tenure.

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

Since being fired from the Lions, Patricia has not served in any defensive on-field coaching capacity. Prior to being the Lions head coach (2018-20), he was Bill Belichick’s defensive coordinator with the New England Patriots from 2012-17. Note that Belichick, who took the North Carolina job in college this offseason, did not choose to reunite with Patricia.

Not only did OSU lose Jim Knowles to Penn State this offseason, Chip Kelly, the team’s offensive coordinator this past season, departed Columbus for the Las Vegas Raiders.

This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Ohio State set to hire former Detroit Lions coach Matt Patricia

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/ohio-state-hire-defensive-coordinator-180617107.html

Author : Wolverines Wire

Publish date : 2025-02-12 18:06:00

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