Greetings from “Can’t Wait For Saturday,” your morning morsel of college football, courtesy of longtime Illini beat writer, AP Top 25 voter and Heisman state rep Bob Asmussen. He’ll give you his views each day on the game he loves.
The Las Vegas Raiders just hired Ohio State’s offensive coordinator Chip Kelly shortly after he helped the Buckeyes win the national title.
So it seems perfectly reasonable that Ohio State coach Ryan Day would turn to an NFL coach to run his defense.
According to our friends at ESPN, former Lions head coach Matt Patricia will replace Jim Knowles, who left for Penn State.
Patricia has a long history in the NFL, mostly as part of Bill Belichick’s staff with the Patriots.
Patricia had stops at Amherst, Syracuse and with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2023, his last job before Ohio State.
After working with offensive linemen, linebackers and safeties, Belichick promoted him to defensive coordinator in 2012. He held that job until the Lions hired him to run their team in 2018.
It did not go well, with the Lions finishing last in the their division all three seasons. He was fired late in his third year and finished with a 13-29-1 record.
Will Patricia be a good fit in Columbus? Perhaps, His background with new North Carolina coach Belichick is a big plus.
The Buckeyes are loaded with talent on both sides of the ball. When you hire someone who is mostly an NFL coach, you wonder first about their ability to recruit at the college level.
If Patricia helps Ohio State compete at a high level, he might be out the door back to the NFL after a short stay. Just like Kelly. But Day needs a coach for right now, not 10 years from now. The pressure at Ohio State is immense, but not when compared to the Patriots.
