Ohio State defensive coordinator Matt Patricia talks to the media
Ohio State defensive coordinator Matt Patricia takes questions during April 7, 2025 news conference in Columbus.
Michigan football fans now have one more easy reason to disdain rival Ohio State, ahead of the latest iteration of The Game at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday (noon, Fox).
Matt Patricia.
Patricia, Ohio State’s defensive coordinator, saw his Buckeyes defense shut down quarterback Arch Manning and No. 1-ranked Texas in Ohio State’s season-opening win Saturday, Aug. 30, in Columbus at Ohio Stadium.
The defense came up with an interception and numerous fourth-down stops, including one at the goal line, to preserve a victory for the defending College Football Playoff champions.
Since that dominant performance to open the season, the Buckeyes have displayed the nation’s top defense, entering the final week of the regular season ranked No. 1 in scoring defense (7.6 points per game), passing defense (126.6 yards per game) and total defense (206.6 yards per game). If OSU’s defense has a weakness, it’s the rush – the Buckeyes are merely No. 2 in the nation there, allowing 80 yards per game (just behind Texas Tech at 71.8).
[ Ohio State football instant opinions: Matt Patricia has rousing debut as coordinator ]
Patricia, 50, was already persona non grata in the state of Michigan, after his tenure as coach of the NFL’s Detroit Lions flamed out in less than 3 years when he was fired, along with general manager Bob Quinn, after a Thanksgiving Day loss to the Houston Texans in 2020.
That year, the Lions blew leads of 17, 11 and 14 points in losses to the Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers and New Orleans Saints, and were 4-7 when he was sent packing by new owner Sheila Hamp. Patricia had a 13-29-1 record with the Lions from 2018-20, for a putrid .314 winning percentage.
Who can forget Patricia’s Lions debut on Monday Night Football, when the Lions were embarrassed on national television by what turned out to be a bad New York Jets team, 48-17, at a livid Ford Field in Detroit?
Yet there Patricia was in August in the biggest game of college football’s entire nonconference schedule, pencil in ear despite holding a laminate play sheet.
Except this time, a thinner, greyer Patricia got the last laugh, and seems to like his new colors: scarlet and grey (and black).
“He did a great job, our staff did a great job, I thought the plan coming in was excellent, they kept fighting,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said postgame on the field when asked about the defensive performance against Texas.
Patricia spent the 2024 season out of coaching and in football media, working alongside his mentor Bill Belichick.
Patricia was a defensive assistant with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2023, becoming the play-caller late in the season as the defense fell apart.
Patricia, who spent 19 years in the NFL, won six Super Bowls with the New England Patriots, including two as defensive coordinator.
Michigan is on a four-game win streak in The Game. Patricia hasn’t won a game in the state of Michigan since Nov. 15, 2020, when he was still Lions coach.
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