After finally getting past Michigan in 2025, Ryan Day faces a new challenge in 2026: a Wolverines team now led by Kyle Whittingham. With the talented head coach leading the way at Ann Arbor, Ryan Day had to make some critical strategic decisions.

Recognizing that playoff games hinge on special teams, Ryan Day hired Robby Discher to address a major weakness. The role had been vacant since Day fired Parker Fleming in 2023, with coaches like Rob Keys overseeing. Filling this role was OSU’s top offseason priority, as Discher’s hiring is also related to Kyle Whittingham being at Michigan.

“Kyle Whittingham is special teams obsessed,” Greg McElroy said on the February 2 episode of Always College Football. “At Utah, they consistently had one of the best punting and kicking units in the country. And Michigan has been a little up and down with that consistency, but you can probably expect the Wolverines to win a game this year because they blocked a punt and played field position.

It might sound boring. I know it’s not a 50-yard bomb to [Andrew] Marsh. But in a 12-team playoff era where the margins are really, really thin, having a coach that treats a punt like a holy relic is a massive advantage.”

Whittingham’s track record at Utah, where his special teams consistently ranked near the top of the Pac-12 and produced NFL-caliber kickers, shows exactly the kind of advantage he will look to replicate at Michigan.

Notably, Michigan has also replaced its special teams roster losses in the portal with some potentially impactful players. Chief among them will be Trey Butkowski, who went 20 of 23 on field goals last season.

Ohio State now has to go toe-to-toe with Michigan on this front. Not having a special teams coordinator didn’t hurt the Buckeyes in the 2024 season. But in 2025, it cost the team a chance to defend its national championship. According to statistician Brian Fremeau, OSU’s special teams dropped to 54th in the country last year after finishing 17th in 2024. Playoff games, in particular, turned out to be tense showdowns last season, where scoring became a problem. Special teams often gave teams a fighting chance.

To counter Whittingham’s expertise and fix their own glaring issues, the Buckeyes targeted Robby Discher, one of the most respected special teams coordinators in the country. Under his leadership, Illinois finished 16th and 30th in the SP+ special teams rankings for 2024 and 2025, respectively. In this past season alone, he created a star out of David Olano, who went 20 of 23 on field goals.

Including him and punt returner Hank Beatty, Discher has developed nine All-Big Ten honorees at Champaign during his stint with the Illini. In his debut season at Illinois, PFF ranked the special teams 7th in the country. It’s been some time since Ohio State has seen success of this kind in special teams.

After the problems of the 2025 season, Robby Discher now has to execute a 180-degree turn with a fresh set of the OSU special teams personnel.

What awaits Robby Discher on Ohio State’s special teams

When the portal opened, Day faced a critical issue. Kicker Jayden Fielding was ineligible, and Jackson Courville transferred, leaving OSU without an experienced starter. Ryan Day found a solution in Baylor’s Connor Hawkins, who made 18 of 22 field goals last season. OSU also recruited Cooper Peterson from the 2026 cycle as Hawkins’ backup.

Punting will feature Joe McGuire once again as a starter, who minimally improved his punt yardage from 42.1 in 2024 to 42.4 in 2025. Houston Christian’s Brady Young comes in as a veteran addition here, having played for four years at Cincinnati. Longsnapper Dalton Riggs also comes from the portal to help out Grant Mills.

With Robby Discher’s arrival, Ohio State has one of the best coaching staffs in college football right now. This move gives Ryan Day reason to hope for another trip to the National Championship this season. Still, he will also have to ensure Michigan doesn’t dominate when the two teams meet this season.

With Whittingham’s proven special-teams strength now at Michigan, Ohio State’s biggest weakness has become the new battleground in their historic rivalry.