Ohio State earlier had promoted Brian Hartline to offensive coordinator and play caller and hired Virginia Tech offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen as their new offensive line coach.
Hartline was expected to have a chance for the offensive coordinator position, and was regarded as the favorite, if he pushed for it, due to his value as a recruiter and developing wide receivers, where he is the best in the sport.
Ohio State wasn't going to take a chance on losing Hartline and promoting was the easy call, especially if Ohio State hires a veteran coach soon to help Hartline progress into the job.
Tyler Bowen hasn't coached the offensive line since 2017 at Maryland but his three years at Virginia Tech as their offensive coordinator should help Brian Hartline before that, Bowen was the tight ends coach at Penn State, where the Nittany Lions have put four tight ends into the pros in recent years and expected first rounder in the upcoming draft Tyler Warren, all were recruited by Bowen.
It's hoped that Bowen's recruiting prowess will improve the only area where Ohio State's recruiting has flagged a bit in recent years.
Bowen's hiring was a mild surprise, although his name did receive some mention as a candidate coming up to the hire but the real surprise was the hiring of Matt Patricia as the defensive coordinator.
Patricia was the defensive coordinator for the New England Patriots from 2012-17, winning two Super Bowls as their DC and leading them to one of the best defenses in the league before moving to Detroit for three seasons as the Lions head coach, where he finished with a 13-29-1 record.
Patricia returned to New England for two seasons and moved to Philadelphia in 2023 as an advisor before taking 2024 away from football, where he was reported to have spent time with Bill Belichick studying the college game.
Patricia hasn't coached in college since 2003 when he was on the Syracuse staff as a graduate assistant, so it'll be interesting to see if he needs any adjustment time to familiarize himself with the college game.
Patricia's rapport with players has been questioned after many difficulties with players with the Lions, although I haven't seen issues with him from his Patriots background, perhaps it was a situation of a young coach in a position he simply wasn't ready for.
Patricia's name wasn't mentioned as a candidate until a day before accepting the job. Most thought that Ryan Day would promote Matt Guerreri and Tim Walton to co-defensive coordinators.
Patricia's hiring has brought questions from Buckeye fans who wonder how much Patricia had to do with the success of the New England defenses on a team coached by Bill Belichick and that's a fair question to ask.
My response would be this- Patricia is a proven defensive coordinator, who won't do a lot of recruiting, and lots of schemes and masterminding plans.
Plus, I think we could be here as soon as next year looking for a new defensive coordinator. Patricia is attempting to clear his name from the Detroit fiasco and would rather work in the NFL.
This trio of hires seems to have the potential to be great, but with a mix in the middle, it could fail.
The jury is out.
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