Matt Patricia Explains Decision To Join Ohio State, Expectations As Recruiter

New Ohio State defensive coordinator Matt Patricia hasn’t been in the college game since 2003. Much has changed since then, but more and more, big-time college football is resembling the NFL more and more.

That is actually one of the reasons Patricia was drawn to Ohio State.

Patricia spent 20 years in the NFL, beginning with the New England Patriots as an assistant offensive line coach in 2004. He rose through the ranks and eventually became the Pats’ defensive coordinator in 2012. He stayed their for six years, winning a pair of Super Bowl titles in that stretch.

Patricia then left to become the head coach of the Detroit Lions. The move did not go as planned, with Patricia being fired during the 2020 season. He was back with the Patriots for two years and then moved to the Philadelphia Eagles for the 2023 season. He was out of coaching entirely in 2024, but he was far from out of touch.

Back To School

Matt Patricia spent last year studying the college game with mentor Bill Belichick, and he’s always had a fondness for what it represented.

“The NFL was great,” Patricia said last week. “I had a great run. It was a lot of fun. We won some big games, which was really cool, but I just love the college environment. I really got into coaching when I left engineering to just pursue my passion of really working with young men, 18 to 22-year-olds, really being influential in their lives and helping them grow. That’s what college coaches were for me.”

The opportunity to help develop young men is a calling for plenty of coaches. It’s a calling that isn’t as necessary in the NFL when dealing with 30-year olds. Patricia comes from an educational family — his parents were teachers, so he saw the impact they had on their students first-hand.

It’s a romantic view of the yesteryear of college football, but all of those same opportunities to be an impact on young people are still there. It’s not a bad way to make a living — or raise a family.

“I’m married. My wife is amazing. I have three incredible kids, and I really wanted them to experience this, too,” he said. “Everything was great in the NFL, but this is a family environment. It’s just — it’s really cool, so I’m pretty excited.”

Yeah, But What About Recruiting?

Now that Matt Patricia is back in the college game, scheming up a defense is only part of the job. He also has to help recruit the Jimmys and the Joes to execute the Xs and the Os.

Coaches will tell you that recruiting is still a relationship business, but there is no recruiting without Name, Image, and Likeness discussions as well.

“I love the recruiting process, and I’m in the deep end right now,” Patricia admitted. “I’m trying to swim and get caught up as I dive in. But building those relationships and having conversations with parents, having conversations with mom, dad, a potential player for us, student athlete, telling them what and how we can help them develop and grow their son. That’s really important and that’s something that, for me, I really enjoyed.”

The conversations in recruiting are not that different from some of the conversations in the NFL, specifically how a player would be used in a particular scheme. The evaluation on which players to recruit is also not that different than figuring out which players to draft in the NFL, or which free agents to go after.

The conversations now, however, are geared more towards taking the necessary steps to reach their ultimate goals. And with Matt Patricia’s experience in the NFL, he has a pretty good idea on what it takes to reach those goals.

“Obviously, the guys that are coming here that want to go to the NFL, if that’s their goal, that’s certainly something I can help with,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of jobs in the NFL on all sides of the ball. Front office roles and head coach roles and all the coordinating roles. So I know what’s required for that. I know what’s needed for that. So just being able to talk to the kids and the parents, I know that’s a long-term vision, but that’s what they want to do after they get done here. So I can help them with that.”