Ohio State Hires Patriots' Super Bowl-Winning Coach

Former pieces of the New England Patriots coaching staff have continued to find their way to the college ranks.

First, it was Bill Belichick and his shocking decision to join aboard as UNC's next head coach, and now former Patriots defensive coordinator is the latest to make the switch from the NFL to college.

According to insider Pete Thamel of ESPN, Patricia has agreed to become the next defensive coordinator for the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Sources: Ohio State is finalizing a deal to hire Matt Patricia as the school’s new defensive coordinator. Patricia was an NFL head coach with the Lions and longtime DC with the New England Patriots. pic.twitter.com/NdCTsCMVBz
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) February 12, 2025

Ohio State comes off a 2025 National Championship victory against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and now, the Patriots coaching alum gets a shot to be a part of a repeat.

Patricia started with the Patriots back in 2004 as an offensive line assistant coach before working his way up the ladder on the defensive side of the ball, being a linebackers coach from 2006 to 2010, a safeties coach in 2011, and then becoming the defensive coordinator from 2012 to 2017.

The Patriots' longtime defensive coordinator was then hired as the head coach of the Detroit Lions from 2018 to 2020. He was 13-29-1 during that span, was let go in 2020, then found his way back to the New England staff in 2021 as an assistant head coach.

Now, Patricia finds his way to Ohio State to pick up a role left by Jim Knowles –– the program's previous defensive coordinator who's now stationed at Penn State.

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