It’s safe to say that not everyone was sold on Ryan Day’s hiring of Matt Patricia as defensive coordinator when Jim Knowles took the Penn State job. Our own site has listed the uncertainty of choice as one of the Buckeyes’ biggest concerns last summer.
While things haven’t gone so well for Patricia as an NFL head coach in Detroit — lack of success is by no means uncommon for Lions coaches from a historical standpoint — or in some of his positions since, his NFL experience is something Day covets.
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Patricia got the job and the reaction from Ohio State writers and fans was mixed at best.
These concerns were quickly allayed. Despite having to completely rebuild a defense that lost a ton of talent to the NFL after the 2024 national championship season, Patricia’s unit was not only Ohio State’s best in 2025, but it was also the best defense in college football.
The Buckeyes finished first in defense, allowing fewer than double-digit points per game (9.3), and led the nation in total defense, allowing an average of just 219 yards per game. With an all-new defensive line, Ohio State held opponents to fewer than 90 rushing yards per game, finishing seventh nationally in run defense, while leading the nation in pass defense, giving up 129.7 yards per game through the air.
There is no room for criticism of the figures presented in the paragraph above. It’s ridiculous to expect this kind of performance, let alone any improvement.
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Leading the nation in three of the four major defensive categories makes the 2025 defense historically good (and it’s even better when you consider that the Buckeyes led the nation in red zone defense and were No. 10 nationally in third-down defense), and the architect of this defense dispelling any doubt about its return can only be seen as a positive for Ohio State football in 2026.
One of the side effects of being one of the best programs in the country is that other schools are always coming for your coaches. At Ohio State, it’s not just the academic programs that cater to them; the NFL is also coming calling. With the ridiculous season Patricia’s defense just had, there were undoubtedly suitors for his services from college teams and the NFL.
Although Patricia’s original deal lasted until 2027, there was never a guarantee of his return after transforming OSU’s defense into a buzzsaw that improved a national-caliber defense.
Now that Patricia has committed to staying in Columbus for another year, he has the unenviable task of replacing several key pieces of his own elite defense.
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The good news is that there is plenty of returning talent and several newcomers coming through the transfer portal that will help. The bad news is that it’s a big ask to replace the explosive play of Kayden McDonald on the defensive line and “unicorn” players like Caleb Downs and Arvell Reese, as well as a talented elite linebacker like Sonny Styles and top cornerback Davison Igbinosun.
Despite the losses of Downs, Reese and Styles in particular, the job of rebuilding the defense seems less daunting today than it did a year ago.
Ohio State’s returning starters and depth players have been in Patricia’s system for a year. They should be better prepared from their second year, even if some of them will become first-timers. The new arrivals will help mitigate some of the losses.
Again, it’s ridiculous to expect a repeat of what Patricia’s defense did in 2025 in the upcoming season, especially with a tougher playing schedule, but Ohio State’s second-year defensive coordinator has done enough to at least silence last year’s critics and build confidence that the Silver Bullets will be back in 2026.
