Ohio State is finalizing a deal to make veteran NFL coach Matt Patricia the school’s new defensive coordinator, sources told ESPN.
The move to bring in Patricia comes with the corresponding internal promotion of secondary coach Tim Walton to the co-defensive coordinator role, per ESPN sources. Ohio State will also be promoting safeties coach Matt Guerrieri to pass-game coordinator, per sources.
Patricia comes to Ohio State to replace Jim Knowles, who left for Penn State‘s defensive coordinator job in the wake of the Buckeyes’ 2024 national title.
In Patricia, they get a veteran defensive play-caller who worked as New England‘s defensive coordinator for seven seasons from 2012-17. He began calling the defensive plays without the official title in 2010, which was a device Bill Belichick used to break in new coordinators and keep pressure off them.
He was the defensive coordinator for two of New England’s Super Bowl wins and was also on staff as an offensive assistant for New England’s 2004 Super Bowl.
Patricia spent three seasons as the head coach of the Detroit Lions from 2018-20, getting fired with a 13-29-1 record in his third season there.
Walton’s promotion comes after coming to Ohio State in 2022 from the NFL, where he coached at four different franchises from 2009 to 2021. That included a job as the St. Louis Rams defensive coordinator in 2013.
Walton’s new title is a nod to the strong secondary play at Ohio State under his watch, as the Buckeyes finished No. 3 in the country in passing yards allowed in 2024 and No. 1 in that category in 2023.
Guerrieri is a former co-defensive coordinator at Duke from 2018-21 and was the co-defensive coordinator at Indiana in 2023.
They’ll all be charged with taking over an Ohio State defense that returns just three starters from a unit that finished No. 1 nationally in total defense and scoring defense. The eight departing starters, including the entire defensive line, project to get picked in the NFL draft this spring.
Ohio State does return high-end talent, including safety Caleb Downs, who projects as one of the top players in all of college football next year. Junior linebacker Sonny Styles will be another top prospect and senior corner Davison Igbinosun earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors.