Ryan Day May Repeat Matt Patricia Formula With Fired $30M NFL Coach as New OC – Insider

Ohio State just lost the architect behind “Wide Receiver U” in Columbus. Brian Hartline’s departure leaves a massive hole in Ryan Day’s offensive operation. One name keeps coming up as a replacement for the Buckeyes’ OC, and the route is similar to what Ryan Day did at the DC position.  

Ohio State insider Austin Ward laid out why Brian Daboll, the former New York Giants head coach, makes sense for the Buckeyes.

“Brian Daboll, I don’t think, is going to get the Penn State job. I don’t know if he wants the Penn State job. He has a built-in relationship with Matt Patricia. And then if we’re talking about like filling in the cracks, he is also a pretty decorated tight end coach. So then that would make sense with the way that you’re restructuring that staff. That’s what I think would make a lot of sense. Is that a prediction that that’s how it’s going to end? It is not. But I think that there are a lot of obvious reasons and connections that we can make that would fit. He also spent some time on Nick Saban’s staff.”

Jeremy Birmingham also shared the same thoughts. He talked about how Daboll wouldn’t need to reinvent the wheel in Columbus.

“You don’t have to come in and make wholesale changes. You don’t have to come in and light the place on fire because Ryan Day’s offense is what’s there. Your job is to come in and tweak it and manage it and to add to it and to enhance it. And so a guy like Brian Daboll makes a ton of sense to me, even more so than a guy like Chip Kelly, because that’s already been done. And I don’t think Chip Kelly is someone who is interested right now, after the year that he just had in Las Vegas, in immediately jumping back into the coaching pool. I would be surprised if that happened.”

The Daboll-to-Ohio State connection has real substance behind it. Daboll spent 17 years in the NFL before becoming Alabama’s offensive coordinator under Nick Saban in 2017. It was the same year the Crimson Tide won a national championship. Before that, he coached tight ends for the New England Patriots from 2013 to 2016.  He has also served as an offensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills, where he helped develop Josh Allen into an MVP-caliber quarterback from 2018 to 2021.

In 2022, Daboll won NFL Coach of the Year after leading the Giants to a 9-7-1 record and a playoff berth in his first season as a head coach. That’s not somebody who needs to prove he can coach. That’s a guy who’s done it at the highest levels.​

The Matt Patricia connection is where this gets really interesting. Daboll and Patricia overlapped in New England from 2013 to 2016. They worked together on Bill Belichick’s staff during two Super Bowl runs. They know each other; they trust each other. Ryan Day has already demonstrated his willingness to recruit proven NFL coaches and bring them to Columbus.

He did exactly that when he hired Patricia as defensive coordinator ahead of the 2025 season. Patricia had spent 19 years in the NFL before. If Ryan Day did it once with Patricia on defense, why wouldn’t he do it again with Daboll on offense?​ It might not be a done deal. But if Day hasn’t already reached out, Ohio State insiders would be shocked.

Why risk it? Day says momentum and seeding matter

The debate over whether conference championship games still matter in the 12-team playoff era just got more interesting. Both Ohio State and Indiana are sitting pretty as undefeated teams likely headed for first-round byes. So, you’d think Saturday’s Big Ten title game in Indianapolis would feel like a glorified exhibition. But Ryan Day isn’t buying that logic. 

“We’re in it, and we want to be the one seed,” Day told Taylor Lewan on ‘Bussin’ With The Boys.’ “I think everything matters when it comes down the stretch. If you’re just playing the numbers and you’re playing the trends, you want to be in a situation where you’re the No. 1-seed going into the playoffs.”

For Day, it’s about keeping the train rolling at full speed into postseason play. The head coach also acknowledged the elephant in the room. The current playoff format raises questions about whether the risk is worth the reward. This year’s straight-seeding model means Ohio State and Indiana are guaranteed their spots regardless of Saturday’s outcome. But Day says there’s something bigger at play than just avoiding injury or taking a week off. 

“Winning a Big Ten championship does matter. It was one of the things that was on our list of goals (during the preseason),” he continued. “So it’ll be a great environment. It’s Indianapolis, they’ll have a great crowd. We’ll have a great crowd. So, you know, we want to win, we want to be undefeated, we want to be the one seed. That’s what’s motivating us.”

For Day, momentum matters. And coasting into the playoffs isn’t how you win championships.