Ohio State had an impressive season last year despite its playoff loss, but special teams were still a headache. That ultimately cost the Buckeyes in both the B1G Championship game and against Miami, as Jayden Fielding missed crucial field goals. Even the return game and punting units kept letting the team down under coordinator Rob Keys. Day took heat for skipping a dedicated on-the-road coach for special teams. But that’s about to get fixed.

The Buckeyes are ready to bring in Illinois’ Robby Discher as their new special teams coordinator, according to sources. He’s got a solid resume, having had stints at Illinois, Tulane, Georgia, and Louisiana.

Discher got his start on Kirby Smart’s staff back in February 2021 as a Special Teams Quality Control Analyst, helping out with all things special teams. He was part of the Bulldogs’ 2021 national championship-winning team.

Discher’s impact at Georgia showed up immediately. The Bulldogs’ punting unit ranked No. 1 in the SEC and finished inside the national top 25. They averaged an impressive 46.75 yards per punt. Kirby Smart brought him in for his “documented successful track record.” He leaned on his previous experience as Louisiana’s special teams coordinator to help Scott Cochran steady the unit.

That behind-the-scenes role mattered. Discher was part of a support staff that helped Georgia go 14–1 and win its first national championship in 41 years. After the title run, he took the special teams coordinator job at Tulane in January 2022. The turnaround there was quick and obvious. Under Discher, Tulane’s special teams ranked top 30 nationally in six main categories.

The improvement was so special that head coach Willie Fritz, who had handled special teams himself for seven years, openly endorsed Discher for turning a 2021 weakness into a 2022 dominance. By February 2023, Discher was on the move again, this time to Illinois. In his first season, the Illini led the nation with seven blocked kicks and punts and finished as the No. 7 overall special teams unit according to Pro Football Focus.

He also helped develop Tip Reiman and converted David Olano into a two-time All-Big Ten kicker. By early 2026, Discher had completed three full seasons at Illinois. He contributed to a stretch that included two bowl wins and back-to-back 9+ win seasons. Now, he’s expected to bring that same formula to Ohio State. That’s exactly what the Buckeyes need. Ohio State’s special teams finished a rough 67th in ESPN’s SP+ efficiency in 2025.

Robby Discher has already shown he can fix those issues. He developed kickers like Olano and elite returners such as Hank Beatty, who ranked fourth nationally in punt return average. At OSU, he’ll take over a revamped room featuring transfer additions like kicker Conner Hawkins (Baylor), punter Brady Young (Houston Christian), and long-snapper Dalton Riggs (UCF).

Even with a new voice in charge of special teams, Ohio State’s issues aren’t completely behind them. Ryan Day now faces another pressing concern, the Buckeyes’ tight end depth, which insiders believe needs to be addressed quickly before it becomes a bigger problem.

The TE room also needs fixing

Former OSU linebacker Bobby Carpenter was the first to really sound the alarm. He pointed straight at the tight end room as a problematic position.

“I don’t see that being something that they’re going to probably major in as much,” Carpenter said. “That room got a lot thinner this year. Even with portal additions, I don’t know that you’re gonna have that positional depth. That may be a group that you lean into.”

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He’s not wrong. Ohio State faced some woes at this position. Will Kacmarek and Max Klare announced their NFL Draft chase, while Jelani Thurman entered the transfer portal. That’s a lot of contributors walking out the door. Just last season, Klare took part in 488 snaps behind Kacmarek’s 509, with Bennett Christian adding 255, Nate Roberts 160, and Thurman another 135.

That transition is important, especially for a program that has relied too much on multi-tight-end packages over the past few years. Those looks are much harder to justify when your most trusted athletes are gone. And it’s not like Ryan Day didn’t do anything. The Buckeyes deep-dived into the transfer portal and added Northwestern’s Hunter Welching and Ohio’s Mason Williams. Williams, especially, mirrors Kacmarek.

He put together an outstanding season with 26 receptions for 276 yards and three TDs. On top of that, he has an excellent 66.7 run-blocking grade on PFF while allowing just one pressure all season. Welching brings some game action, too. In his final season at Northwestern, he broke out with 28 catches for 296 yards and two scores, earning an All-Big Ten honorable mention. The additions definitely fill the holes and add depth. But for now, there is no proven momentum that they can actually replace the previous players.