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REPORT: Ohio State Buckeyes Meet with Top DC Candidate

The Ohio State Buckeyes have met with a top potential defensive coordinator candidate.

Evan Massey

Jul 30, 2022; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots senior football advisor Matt Patricia walks to the practice field at the Patriots training camp at Gillette Stadium.
Jul 30, 2022; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots senior football advisor Matt Patricia walks to the practice field at the Patriots training camp at Gillette Stadium. / Eric Canha-Imagn Images
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The Ohio State Buckeyes have been searching for a new defensive coordinator since Jim Knowles left Columbus to join the Penn State Nittany Lions.

Quite a few different candidates have been mentioned as potential options for Ohio State. However, Ryan Day has yet to make a choice to this point in time.

According to a report from Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports, the Buckeyes have now officially met with one top candidate.

Matt Patricia, the former Detroit Lions head coach and New England Patriots' defensive coordinator met with Ohio State in Columbus on Monday.

Patricia is a candidate who came out of the blue. He had not been talked about much as a potential Ohio State option up until the last 24 hours.

Now, it sure sounds like he has a very real shot of being the next defensive coordinator for the Buckeyes.

Looking ahead to the 2025 season, Ohio State is one of the most talented teams in the nation once again. The Buckeyes have lost a lot of talent from their 2024 roster, but they have a lot more talent waiting in the wings to replace them.

It will be interesting to see what ends up happening and who Ohio State chooses to go with at defensive coordinator. Patricia seems to be the trendy pick right now and there is a lot of momentum with him having a meeting with the Buckeyes.

Only time will tell, but this is something to monitor very closely.

Adding Patricia to replace Knowles would bring a lot of intrigue. He's from the Bill Belichick coaching tree and had a very successful tenure as New England's defensive coordinator. Perhaps he could bring some of that Patriots magic to Ohio State.

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Evan Massey
EVAN MASSEY

Evan Massey is a sports reporter and analyst who covers college football, the NFL and NBA. He has contributed to the On SI network since July 2021. He has also written for ESPN, Yahoo! Sports, Forbes, Bleacher Report, NFLAnalysis.net, NBAAnalysis.net and many other publications. In his free time, Evan enjoys spending time with his wife and son.

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