After winning the national championship a year ago, the Ohio State football program was in the unenviable spot of having to replace both coordinators. Chip Kelly left for a job in the NFL while Jim Knowles left for Penn State, only to give up 427 yards in a home loss in his first big game.
Ryan Day had to figure out who to hire at both spots. In the end, he settled on Brian Hartline for the offensive coordinator position and Matt Patricia for the defensive coordinator job. Patricia had questions coming in, especially about some past off-the-field issues.
Day mentioned that he was comfortable with everything he learned about the past situations, and brought him in. Multiple people were questioning the choice to hire Patricia, especially since he was out of football last year, including me. I, and many others, were wrong.
The Ohio State football team made the right choice to hire Matt Patricia
Patricia has come in and done a masterful job with the Ohio State Buckeyes. He has made sure that the Buckeyes can play multiple defenses well, disguising what coverages he wants the team in until the last second. That has led to the offenses being confused in every game they've played.
Through four weeks, the Buckeyes have yet to allow double-digit points. They still haven't allowed a red zone touchdown, either. Ohio State is just suffocating opponents, and that is all due to what Patricia has done since coming to Columbus. He is owed a lot of credit for how the Buckeyes have played.
This team will have bigger tests in the next few months, and that will really determine just how good the defense is. The Buckeyes have so far been led by the defense, which is a unit that lost eight starters from a year ago. Patricia has just kept the train rolling.
The Buckeyes have done a very good job of not letting opponents come up for air. Expect that to continue.