Ohio State’s excellence in 2025 is likely to lead to major programs or even some NFL teams poaching Ryan Day’s top two coaches very soon.
Heading into the season, there was obvious doubt that the Buckeyes would be able to continue the level of play that carried them to a National Championship in January. Firstly, because 14 of their players from last season were taken in the NFL Draft, including starting QB Will Howard. But also, just like any other sport, repeating is extremely hard to do.
However, following another dominant win on Saturday, Ohio State heads into the week with a sparkling 8-0 record, and remain the No. 1 team in the nation. But they aren’t just a good team this year. Entering Week 11, they are a serious favorite to be just the eighth team in college football history to win back-to-back National Championships.
Without a doubt, head coach Ryan Day and his talent-rich roster, which includes Caleb Downs and Jeremiah Smith, deserve a lot of credit. But their top two coordinators, Brian Hartline and Matt Patricia, have been outstanding in 2025, and that is going to be a big problem for the Buckeyes.
Ohio State will be a victim of their own success
Hartline has gained a reputation throughout pro football for turning Ohio State into an NFL wide receiver factory. However, this season has proven he is much more than that. The last two years, he had a veteran QB with experience to work with in Will Howard. However, in 2025, he had to help sophomore Julian Sayin maintain a championship standard in his first year as a full-time starter.
But instead of just maintaining the standard, he has taken his raw talent and turned Sayin into one of the best QBs in college football right now, and a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate. He has also continued his brilliance in developing star receivers, as Carnell Tate is on pace for a huge breakthrough season. Furthermore, OSU is averaging 36.6 yards per game, and most feel they have purposely played a vanilla style to save their best tricks for the playoffs.
Yet, for as good as Hartline has been, first-year DC Matt Patricia has taken a talented group and turned them into an absolute monster this year. The Buckeyes’ 8-0 start has totally been led by a defense that is giving up just over 200 total yards and seven points per game this season. His work as DC has turned many heads around the game.
That’s why it should come as no surprise that both men have started to see their names mentioned for head coach and coordinator openings in both the college and NFL ranks in recent weeks.
College football buyouts will force more affordable hires in 2026
There are a lot of major openings that have become available in recent weeks, and at some elite college football programs. LSU, Florida, Penn State, Oklahoma State, Arkansas, and UCLA are all looking for individuals to take over their programs in 2026. However, their search may be a bit different than years past.
For several programs, they had to pay massive buyouts after ousting the men leading their programs to start the year. In the era of NIL, where programs must also pay players, investing a huge sum in a big name to fill those openings is not as appealing as it would have been in the past. That is why it will make the two Ohio State coordinators so attractive to many programs.
NIL and buyout payments will have programs rethink their coaching searches, and bringing in very affordable but elite coordinators makes sense. Is there a risk if Penn State makes the rumors a reality and hires Hartline? Yes, but if they had to move on from the first-time coach in a few years, there won’t be a huge buyout cost. Likewise for Patricia and other programs. It just makes fiscal and on-the-field sense.
In the case of Patricia, he has made talent evaluators in college and the pros aware that he is still a very smart defensive mind, and can do it at either level. If he really wants to go back to the pros, there are head coaches who will take over various jobs in the NFL and will jump at the chance to make him their new DC.
Ohio State, arguably, has the best coaching in college football. However, that impressive success could see it decimated in a few months, and have Ryan Day looking to fill both his coordinator spots.
