Anonymous Big Ten coaches talk Ohio State football coordinators
Athlon published its annual anonymous comments about Big Ten programs and for Ohio State, the conversation surrounded the coordinators.
One of the things that's been pretty popular during the college football offseason is when Athlon Sports publishes its anonymous comments by Big Ten coaches about opposing teams. We are, of course, most interested in what those coaches say about Ohio State , and this time around, those comments revolved around the offensive and defensive coordinators for the Buckeyes , two guys who left the NFL for the college ranks. That would, of course, be defensive coordinator Matt Patricia , who joined the staff last season and new offensive coordinator, Arthur Smith .
Both bring a wealth of knowledge and experience from the game's highest level, and here's how an opposing coach sees how that all works on the banks of the Olentangy. “I thought the (defensive coordinator) Matt Patricia hire was awesome last year. What made them so good was they were super simple.
They’d let you take something super short and run your base stuff, and then not budge to that. Then the second you get out of your stuff, they’re ready for it. They were mentally tougher than you.
” “It was so innovative what they did with their coordinators because in today’s game, coordinators are being taken out of their college stuff. They thought, why not bring in two NFL guys (as coordinators) who might not — from the outside looking in — be known for their relatability to players and all that other BS who are just known for being schematic dudes that know what the f— they’re doing from a scheme standpoint, and they’ve executed that really well. ” Coaches dish candidly about their Big Ten rivals in Athlon Sports' 2026 College Football Preview magazine.