Ryan Day’s Ohio State have still not been defeated this season. Credits: Imago
Ryan Day’s Ohio State have still not been defeated this season. Credits: Imago
Ryan Day’s Ohio State have still not been defeated this season. Credits: Imago
Ryan Day’s Ohio State have still not been defeated this season. Credits: Imago
Just as news broke that Ohio State had secured defensive coordinator Matt Patricia with a new contract, everyone naturally wanted to know the finer details. But it head coach Ryan Day put a firm stop to that.
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While athletic director Ross Bjork confirmed the move in a recent interview, Ryan Day refused to discuss the details.
“No. Let Ross and everybody there handle how we’re going to move forward with all that,” Ryan Day said when asked about the details of Matt Patricia’s contract. “But yeah, just again, got to give everybody a lot of credit involved. We wanted to make sure that his future was cemented here moving forward. That was great. I know that, you know, Matt loves being a Buckeyes family. He’s really assimilated well.”
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Ryan Day’s obvious deflection to the question only added intrigue surrounding Matt Patricia’s contract. Some reports suggest that he could become one of the highest-paid assistant coaches in college football. Before this agreement, Patricia had signed a three-year deal after arriving in Columbus. That contract included a base salary of $2.5 million for the 2025 season.
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The reason for such a deflection can be speculated as Ryan Day understanding that such technical details might have to come out in the form of a written statement rather than by him answering on an interview. It is also possible he wanted the conversation around the money to not dominate over the training and development that Ohio State is focusing on as they approach spring practice. After all, there are other coordinators in The Shoe.
While some had their doubts regarding the initial hiring, Patricia was able to prove every doubter wrong with his takeover on defense. Ohio State had the best defensive unit in the country last season under Patricia. They only allowed 219.1 yards per game in total defense and only 9.3 points per game in scoring defense.
Ryan Day addresses the new contract extension for defensive coordinator Matt Patricia — keeping key leadership in place for the Buckeyes’ defense 💪🔴⚫️ pic.twitter.com/shMdtG5A3J
— The Buckeye Nut (@TheBuckeyeNut) February 24, 2026
It was never going to be easy for Ryan Day to replace former Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles.
After helping the Buckeyes win the national championship in 2024, Knowles made a surprising move to Penn State. His exit raised several questions. Why did he leave Ohio State? And who would replace him? Day needed to answer the latter, and the solution came in the form of Matt Patricia. His resume spoke for itself.
Having NFL experience with the New England Patriots and Detroit Lions, Patricia felt like the perfect replacement to some and a highly risky choice to others. His three Super Bowl wins further justified his hiring. But his lack of experience in college raised very valid doubts. Thankfully for Buckeye fans everywhere, Patricia showed that he didn’t miss a beat after arriving at Columbus. Despite the program losing its unbeaten streak and Big Ten title to Indiana and an upset loss to Miami in the CFP, Patricia ensured the defense remained a strength.
The team ranked first nationally in total defense. Patricia shut down a preseason favorite in Texas and the crowd favorite Arch Manning in his first game. The rushing defense was the ranked seventh in the country, giving away just 89.36 yards per game.
Now that Ohio State has secured his commitment, Ryan Day and the Buckeyes faithful can feel hopeful and encouraged heading into next season.
AD Ross Bjork’s faith in Matt Patricia pays off
While other programs focused on retaining and adding players, Ohio State prioritized keeping Matt Patricia. The reason was clear. Patricia had already proven he could deliver elite defensive results.
With rumors linking him to a potential return to the NFL, retaining him became a top priority for athletic director Ross Bjork and head coach Ryan Day. However, Bjork never paid much attention to the speculation, revealing he knew Patricia’s heart remained with the Buckeyes.
“He was always committed to staying here,” Ross Bjork shared. “I know his family loves it. His kids have fit in well. We just kept a constant dialogue before we reached an agreement.
We wanted to make sure that we solidified Matt. He did a great job this year. He certainly, from the jump, built great trust within the building with coaches, with players. And then you saw the product in the field. And so really excited that we solidified his future at Ohio State.”
This development has made Ryan Day’s offseason preparation much smoother. With Patricia secured, the Buckeyes can now focus on their game plans and evaluating players while addressing the mistakes that cost them last season.
Written by
Edited by
Ahana Chatterjee