Ohio State is still searching for a replacement for Jim Knowles as the team’s next defensive coordinator, and now a former NFL assistant and head coach could be a new candidate.

Ex-Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia has emerged as a possible contender for the Buckeyes’ defensive coordinator position and was in Columbus to speak personally with the program about the vacancy on Monday, according to 247Sports.

Patricia last coached football on the Philadelphia Eagles staff during the 2023 season as a senior defensive assistant after serving 13 seasons with the New England Patriots.

He was head coach of the Lions from 2018 to 2021 and has a 13-29-1 record in that role.

Patricia previously served as a long-time football assistant under head coach Bill Belichick, winning three Super Bowl championships with the Patriots organization.

He coached linebackers and defensive line and was defensive coordinator for New England from 2012 to 2017 and was senior football advisor with the franchise after leaving Detroit.

Ohio State’s defensive coordinator position became available after the sudden departure of Jim Knowles, the strategist who was credited with vastly improving the Buckeyes’ play on that side of the ball, culminating in the unit’s No. 1 ranking in total production and scoring during the school’s national championship run in 2024.

Knowles left the Ohio State program to take the same position with Big Ten rival Penn State this offseason amid speculation that there was a rift between he and head coach Ryan Day, becoming the highest-paid defensive coordinator in college football in 2025.

Day has filled his offensive coordinator vacancy after Chip Kelly’s departure to the NFL by promoting assistants Brian Hartline and Keenan Bailey to co-OC roles.

And the head coach said he hopes to have his complete football staff for the 2025 filled and ready to go later in the spring.

“We’re still putting the finishing touches on it,” Day said, via The Columbus Dispatch.

“We’re making good progress. We obviously have a bunch of really good guys on staff, but a bunch of other guys who are obviously interested in the positions, so we’re going to work hard to get this thing kind of ironed out here in the next few days.”

More … College football’s highest-paid coaches after Ryan Day deal

And… Ohio State linked to Miami offensive coordinator

(247)

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