Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day made a big move to upgrade the special teams coordinator spot, which didn't technically have anyone in the seat the past two years. A big and undeniably more popular move than the Arthur Smith hire.
Per Cleveland.com's Andrew Gillis, Day is making a move "to bolster the special teams once again" with former Illinois Fighting Illini special teams coordinator and tight ends coach Robby Discher taking over as the team's new special teams coordinator.
Per Gillis, "Ohio State had Parker Fleming as the special teams coordinator for three seasons, but after the 2023 season, let him go after inconsistent play and a myriad of mistakes throughout the season. The last two years, it was a group effort spearheaded by quality control coach Rob Keys." That means one man will be calling the shots, which should help a unit ranked No. 67 in 2025 and No. 47 in 2024.
With the level of athletes existing up and down the depth chart for the Buckeyes, a simple switch like that could activate the special teams. That might be critical considering the offensive sacrifices the team may be making under Smith.
Ohio State's offense could regress and Buckeyes could be facing bleak reality under Arthur Smith
Truth be told, when the games mattered most, OSU's offense laid eggs under Day, who had taken over play-calling duties once Brian Hartline was signed, sealed, and delivered to Tampa to become the USF Bulls' new head coach.
Still, the Buckeyes could afford a Big Ten Championship loss, without even losing a first-round bye, because of how good they consistently were during the 2025 regular season under Hartline. With tough matchups, on paper, for now, of course, against the Texas Longhorns, Indiana Hoosiers, USC Trojans, Oregon Ducks, and TTUN in 2026, that grace may not be afforded. There may not be a B1G title game to squander.
Smith isn't going to be revealing any trickery or treachery, the latter to opposing defenses, too early. If he does, he's going to be relying on Matt Patricia to get an even better effort out of a defense that'll at least be definitively worse in the middle, though possibly elsewhere too, with the amount of talent the NFL is about to take from Columbus.
Remember, Smith's Atlanta Falcons scored 30 points just once in three years. Smith's Falcons were held to 15 points or fewer 14 times, almost an entire season's worth of low-scoring, unexplosive offenses. Atlanta didn't score in the red zone under Smith more often than they did.
Can the Buckeyes survive this gauntlet, and this play-caller? It's a question to ask yourself all offseason, since there's a possibility Smith's offense isn't up to snuff and this team can be the first needle-mover in the wrong direction since 2023.