The Ohio State football program has added another kicker to the roster just a few weeks before Spring ball starts. They have added former Notre Dame kicker Macello Diomede to the roster as a walk-on. He gives the program some depth, although he likely won't play much at all.
This makes three kickers that Ryan Day has added this offseason to his changing special teams room. Earlier this off-season, Day added Connor Hawkins from Baylor and Cooper Peterson from the high school ranks. Day also addressed who would be leading the room last week when he added Robby Discher, who previously led the special teams at Illinois.
Diomede adds additional depth to the kicking position after three unproductive seasons in South Bend, Indiana, where, for the Fighting Irish, he had 17 kickoffs, 11 of which went for touchbacks, and made three of four extra point attempts but was never given a field goal opportunity despite Notre Dame’s kicking woes in 2026.
For Ohio State fans, this is a clear move by Ryan Day to address what has been one of the weakest parts of the team during his tenure as head coach. Losses to Indiana in the Big Ten Championship game in 2025 and Michigan at home in 2024, both of which were close games where missed field goals led to losses by Jayden Fielding.
Now it has become apparent that Day is doing everything in his power to make sure those disappointing moments won’t happen in the near future. Although it is not expected for Diomede to contribute, he does offer depth at the position in case Hawkins suffers an injury, and Peterson isn’t ready.
At least Day has started to address issues that have persisted with the special teams for a while now. It's good to see him do something about them.