Ohio State is making a rather unusual choice heading into the 2026 season. Ryan Day is putting both of his coordinators in the middle of the noise rather than watching it from upstairs. It is an interesting setup, one Michigan fans might recognize.
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New OC Arthur Smith and DC Matt Patricia will both call plays from the field when Ohio State opens the season against Ball State on Saturday, per BuckeyesFansOnly. The usual argument for keeping a coordinator upstairs is a better view, more information, and fewer bodies getting in the way. From the booth, coaches can see the full formation develop and relay what they spot to the sideline.
The sidelines offer something different. You get the QB face-to-face; you can talk directly to players between drives; you can see who looks rattled, who is tired, and who is locked in. There is less distance between the play-caller and the people executing the plan. Ryan Day clearly likes that tradeoff.
Arthur Smith, in particular, is no stranger to working from the sidelines. Before arriving at Ohio State, he spent four seasons as an NFL offensive coordinator with the Tennessee Titans and the Pittsburgh Steelers. His offenses reached the playoffs in all four seasons, while he also helped produce two division titles.
Matt Patricia has been there, too. During his 2023 run, calling Philadelphia’s defense as a senior defensive assistant, he operated from the sideline while Sean Desai moved upstairs. So this is not some wild experiment cooked up at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, although it mirrors what Jim Harbaugh did with his 2022 team.
During Michigan’s 2022 Big Ten championship season, the Wolverines had their primary offensive and defensive play-callers working from the sideline. Sherrone Moore called the offense from the field while Jesse Minter directed the defense from there as well. The team went 12-0 and finished the job with a 43-22 victory over Purdue in the Big Ten Championship Game, improving their record to 13-0.
The Buckeyes have taken a pretty different path with their coordinator hires lately. After the 2024 championship, Ryan Day handed the defense to Matt Patricia the following season when Jim Knowles departed. Then, with Brian Hartline out of the picture, Ohio State went back to the NFL well and hired Arthur Smith. Two straight years, two NFL names. And now the eighth-year head coach is giving both men the same treatment on Saturdays.
There is a certain irony in Ohio State adopting a strategy associated with one of its biggest rivals. But football is full of that sort of thing. If something works, rivalry lines tend to disappear. Michigan’s 2022 team did not win the Big Ten because two coordinators stood on the sideline. Talent, execution, and coaching did the heavy lifting. Still, the setup helped keep those coaches close to their players when games became tense.
The move also becomes important given the history of coordinators under Ryan Day. During his time at Columbus, Kevin Wilson specifically wanted to be positioned upstairs. Similarly, even Brian Hartline was positioned upstairs. Ryan Day ultimately took over the play-calling duties in the postseason when Hartline accepted a head coaching job at USF. Jeff Hafley and Matt Barner also operated from the press box.
This could be Ryan Day just trusting two experienced veterans. It’s also a reflection of the head coach’s disassociation from play-calling responsibilities. Arthur Smith is set to have complete control over the offense, something Day practiced when he had Chip Kelly as his offensive coordinator during their national championship-winning campaign in 2024.
Now, Ohio State gets to find out whether that Michigan idea can work in Columbus. Whether that translates to another championship, no one can predict. But if the Buckeyes are borrowing anything from Michigan, they are borrowing a setup that has already worked on the biggest stage in the Big Ten. It’s probably going to get tested the most when Ohio State travels to some of the noisiest atmospheres in the Big Ten.