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The Ohio State coordinators Texas will face in Columbus are now known

Joe Cookby:Joe Cook•about 12 hours•

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Matt Patricia
Matt Patricia (© Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images)

The Texas Longhorns are scheduled to face the Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus, Ohio on August 30 to start the 2025 campaign. Following OSU’s run past Texas all the way to the national championship, Ryan Day‘s program saw Chip Kelly leave the offensive coordinator role with the Las Vegas Raiders and Jim Knowles become the Penn State defensive coordinator.

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On the offensive side, the elevation of Brian Hartline to offensive coordinator was made known last week. The replacement for Knowles arrived today, and it was a significant surprise in the college football world.

Former Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia is set to become the Buckeyes defensive coordinator, per reporting from ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Patricia, who was a longtime defensive coordinator for the New England Patriots under Bill Belichick, returns to the college game for the first time since he was a graduate assistant at Syracuse in the early 2000s.

Patricia and Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian crossed paths one time during Sark’s stint as the Atlanta Falcons play-caller from 2017 to 2018. Sarkisian’s offense, led by Matt Ryan, compiled 343 yards against a Patriots defense called by Patricia but failed to score until there was 4:09 left in the game. New England had built a 23-0 lead up to that point, and the game finished with the Patriots up 23-7.

Patricia will take over a defense with talented players like Caleb Downs and be charged with helping Ohio State defend not only its national title, but against a Longhorn offense led by Arch Manning in week one.

As it pertains to Hartline, he gets back the offensive coordinator title he had in 2023 that he was forced to share with Kelly in 2024. He’ll be the Buckeyes offensive play-caller, allowing Day to remain a program overseer like he was for OSU’s championship march. Stopping star players like Jeremiah Smith in an offense featuring a new quarterback is the responsibility of Pete Kwiatkowski come August 30.

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With the hires now public, Texas knows who it has to prepare for and can look for tendencies from Ohio State’s new coordinators ahead of their August matchup.

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