When defensive coordinator Jim Knowles left for Penn State, the Buckeyes’ defense needed a new leader.

After Knowles guided Ohio State to a national championship win, expectations for the 2025 team are through the roof.

Now, head coach Ryan Day believes he’s found the perfect man to build on the Buckeyes’ success: Matt Patricia.

After interviewing candidates and going through what Day described as a “thorough” process, Ohio State hired Patricia to be the program’s defensive coordinator Feb. 20. 

“The experience speaks for itself,” Day said. “He’s one of the best minds in the game.”

Patricia coached in the NFL for 19 years while appearing in six Super Bowls and winning three. Patricia also served as the head coach of the Detroit Lions for two and a half seasons from 2018-20.

It’s rare for an NFL coach to remain with the same team for more than a handful of years. But since Patricia was working for then-New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, Super Bowl after Super Bowl, changes weren’t necessary. 

During Patricia’s 14 seasons with Belichick and the Patriots from 2004-17, the two developed a close friendship.

Upon leaving the Philadelphia Eagles after spending the 2023 season as a defensive assistant, Patricia took 2024 off in order to take a step back and evaluate the game of football as a whole, both at the collegiate and professional levels.

And that same year, Belichick happened to do the same. So, the two spent a lot of time together as they discussed their next steps.

“We got fascinated with the college model, so we really started studying a lot of the different schools and how they were building the roster,” Patricia said.

After Belichick — an eight-time Super Bowl champion — took a head coaching job at North Carolina, Patricia followed suit, accepting his new job at Ohio State.

With collegiate football aligning more and more with the NFL playstyle and schedule, Patricia said he feels confident that he’ll find success at the university level.

“Studying it in the offseason, college football to me really felt like ‘Hey, that’s where I want to be,’” Patricia said. “It’s going to be very familiar in certain things for me — the playoffs, the competition, all of that.”

One pivotal aspect of college football that stands apart from the NFL is its recruiting process. 

Patricia’s last recruiting experience came more than two decades ago, when he coached at Syracuse University from 2001-03 — on the same staff that Ohio State co-defensive coordinator Tim Walton was on. Since then, Patricia has recognized major changes when it comes to recruiting, but he’s assured in his ability to bring talented young men to Ohio State.

“I love the recruiting process; I’m in the deep end right now, [and] I’m trying to swim to get caught up as I dive in,” Patricia said. “Building those relationships and having conversations with parents, having conversations with a mom, dad, potential player for us, student-athlete, telling them what and how we can help develop and grow their son, that’s really important.”

Day said even though Patricia has only been with the team for a few weeks, he’s already making a noticeable impact.

“Even in the short period of time, he’s already worked hard on building relationships with the staff and with the players,” Day said. “And his experience is going to have credibility the minute he walks into that room of the guys that he’s coached, the teams and his experience on the field.”