The Ohio State Buckeyes entered the season as the No. 1 team in the AP poll.
Nine games later, they’re 6-3 and in danger of missing the College Football Playoff. And the fallout has officially reached the coaching staff.
Head coach Ryan Day fired special teams coordinator Robby Discher on Monday, two days after a 41-28 home loss to No. 23 Oregon. However, Discher might not be the last coach shown the door.
The Athletic’s Cameron Teague Robinson and Bruce Feldman reported that more changes to the coaching staff are expected soon.
Discher May Not Be the Last Buckeyes Coach to Go
Day hinted that changes were coming after Saturday’s loss to Oregon.
“I’ve got to evaluate everything and try to come in tomorrow and figure out, with the staff, the things we’re coming up short on and figure out how to adjust those things,” Day said. “It all starts with the staff, and then it goes to the players. There needs to be accountability for all of it, and then we go from there.”
In fact, The Athletic reported more changes are expected to Day’s staff.
“The Athletic has heard from multiple sources around the program that Discher’s departure could be the first of multiple changes to Day’s coaching staff,” Robinson and Feldman wrote. “Though further moves may not come until after the regular season.”
Discher’s firing also blows up the plan Day put together this offseason: experienced coordinators running all three units while he oversaw the whole operation as the team’s CEO.
And Day paid up for it. Second-year defensive coordinator Matt Patricia makes $3.75 million, the most of any assistant coach in the country, while first-year offensive coordinator Arthur Smith is making $1.5 million this season and is set to make $2 million next year.
Both are former NFL head coaches.
Day himself still has plenty of job security, at least on paper. He’s 88-15 in Columbus and agreed to a new deal in February 2025 that pays him $12.5 million per year through 2031.
Why Discher Was Let Go
It’s easy to see why Day made the move he did.
Ohio State led Oregon 14-3 in the second quarter and forced a punt on fourth-and-9 from the Ducks’ own 31-yard line. However, defensive lineman Teitum Tuioti threw a jump pass to fellow defensive lineman Matayo Uiagalelei for a 30-yard gain.
Oregon scored the next 35 points.
“I thought getting off the field there before the fake punt would’ve been a huge stop,” Day said. “But it didn’t happen.”
It wasn’t Ohio State’s first special teams blunder either.
The Buckeyes gave up a 44-yard punt return that led to USC’s second touchdown in a 30-18 loss a week earlier. Then, while trying to rally, they allowed a 24-yard return on an onside kick.
The numbers don’t help Discher’s case. Ohio State ranks 86th in the FBS in net punting (38.7 yards), 113th in punt return average (5.9), and 118th in kick return average (17.4).
That’s not what Day had in mind when he hired Discher away from Illinois in February. Discher was Ohio State’s first full-time special teams coordinator since Parker Fleming was let go in 2024. He signed a two-year deal worth $400,000 this season and $450,000 next year.
The Buckeyes will owe him more than $500,000 in his buyout, according to the Columbus Dispatch.
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