Former Lions head coach Matt Patricia to be Ohio State football defensive coordinator

Posted by author February 12, 2025 Football

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Former Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia has reportedly found a new job. And Michigan football fans are going to see more of him now.

On their hated rival’s sideline, that is.

Patricia will join college football’s defending national champion Ohio State Buckeyes, as the program is in the process of making him its new defensive coordinator, according to The Columbus Dispatch on Wednesday afternoon.

He will fill the vacancy after Jim Knowles left to become the Penn State DC.

Patricia, 50, worked alongside his former New England Patriots boss Bill Belichick at The 33rd Team, a Football Think Tank, last year.

Patricia last coached in 2023, hired as senior defensive assistant with the Philadelphia Eagles. He became the playcaller late in the season as the Eagles began to fall apart, yet the move did nothing to stem the tide.

Patricia was fired midway through his third season as Lions head coach in 2020, along with general manager Bob Quinn, after a 41-25 Thanksgiving Day loss to Houston. He finished his Lions tenure with a 13-29-1 record. The duo’s “Patriot Way” culture failed to take in Detroit and Patricia lost the locker room amid dysfunction.

The firings led to a complete change in the Lions’ leadership structure and culture, as chronicled by Jeff Seidel in the Detroit Free Press in January through exclusive interviews with Lions leadership, including owner Sheila Ford Hamp, president Rod Wood and special assistant Chris Spielman.

Patricia was the defensive coordinator for Patriots’ Super Bowl wins in 2014 and 2016.

The Wolverines have defeated the Buckeyes for four consecutive seasons. We’ll soon see if Patricia can make a difference in the rivalry.

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