Matt Patricia Explains Why He Stayed at Ohio State After Contract Extension

For Matt Patricia, the decision came down to more than football.

“Ohio State is such a special place,” Patricia told reporters. “Not only just the history and the tradition, the football program, the school, but the people that are here.”

That connection made the choice clear, even with other opportunities on the table. “I think you look at all of it,” Patricia said. “There were opportunities in college, there were opportunities in the league for sure. But we had just moved. The family is a big part of it.”

That balance ultimately tipped toward staying.

“It’s hard when you’ve got to move your family around, your kids going to school and all that,” Patricia said. “We’ve just had an unbelievable experience settling into Columbus. Everybody’s been so nice and welcoming. It feels like home.”

The extension provides stability. It also sets up a new challenge.

Ohio State is not simply replacing pieces. It is building again, this time with a wave of new faces entering the program.

“With guys coming into the program for the first time, not only are you trying to catch them up on all the football schemes, but you’re also trying to catch them up on everything else,” Patricia said. “This is how we work. This is how we do things. This is the standard.”

That process requires patience and precision. “If you throw all of it at them at once, sometimes you’re doing a bunch of different things but you’re not real confident in one thing…the key is to get them confident in one thing first, then build from there.”

It also requires flexibility.

“Your personnel will change,” Patricia said. “You have to be fluid with all that. You observe what guys can do and put them in those roles.”

That mindset is especially important when trying to replace elite production.

“You don’t ever replace a Caleb Downs,” Patricia said. “When you have great players, that’s why they’re great players. What you do is figure out what you have and what maybe just isn’t going to work for you this year.”

For now, the focus remains on fundamentals. “We’re heavily focused on fundamentals,” Patricia said. “Just getting all of that football and technique work back into these guys.”

The standard, however, has not changed “The tape is so clean. That means you’re operating at a high level.”

But the veteran coach is quick to add that there is still room to grow. “We always want more sacks and more turnovers,” Patricia said. “But we’re not going to give up touchdowns.”

For Patricia, the foundation is already in place. Now it is about building on it in a place that, for him, no longer feels temporary.

It feels like home.