By Danielle Daniels
Matt Patricia Ohio State’s new Defensive Coordinator On 2025 Spring Football Review 4 2025
MATT PATRICIA BIO
Matt Patricia – Defensive Coordinator, Ohio State Football
Coaching Career
Longtime National Football League assistant, coordinator and head coach Matt Patricia was named Ohio State’s defensive coordinator in February 2025 by Ohio State head coach Ryan Day. Patricia arrives in Columbus after spending 19 years in the NFL, mostly with New England where he was a part of six Super Bowl teams and three Super Bowl champion teams, including two when he worked as the team’s defensive coordinator.
“He’s very, very intelligent, really knows defensive football, and the guys who played for him really felt they were getting better because of the way he taught football, fundamentally,” Day said of Patricia in his first press conference since the hiring. “Even our guys in the building, in the short time he’s been here, it’s made a lot of sense in how he teaches the game.”
NFL Experience
Patricia spent a total of 16 seasons in New England, beginning in 2004 and continuing through 2017 before he was hired as the head coach of the Detroit Lions in 2018. During his time with the Patriots he was an offensive assistant coach, linebackers coach and safeties coach
He was the Patriots defensive play caller beginning in 2010, he was named defensive coordinator in 2012 and his tenure with New England included three Super Bowl victories (Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005, Super Bowl XLIX in 2015 and Super Bowl LI in 2017).
During his six-year tenure as New England’s defensive coordinator, the Patriots appeared in the AFC Champion Game each season and had an overall record of 75-21. Including the three seasons prior (2009-11) when he was the defensive play caller, Patricia’s defense ranked in the top 10 in the NFL in fewest points allowed per game eight times, leading the NFL in scoring defense in 2016 on its way to winning the Super Bowl. The Patriots also won the Super Bowl following the 2014 season after ranking eighth in the league in points allowed per game.
Following his tenure (2018-20) as the Detroit Lions’ head coach, Patricia returned to New England in 2021 and stayed through the 2022 season in a variety of roles, including offensive line coach. In 2023, he was a defensive assistant in Philadelphia.
Education
Patricia is a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI, located in Troy, N.Y.) and its School of Engineering’s Mechanical, Aerospace and Nuclear Engineering Department. He was a four-year football letterman for the Engineers as an offensive lineman from 1992-95. He started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at RPI in 1996 and then spent three seasons at Syracuse University as a GA for three seasons before joining the Patriots in 2004.
Personal Life
Patricia and his wife, Raina, have three children: sons Dante and Dominic, and a daughter, Giamina.
Matt Patricia Quick Facts
Hometown: Sherrill, N.Y.
High School: Verona-Sherrill H.S.
Alma Mater: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Degree: Aeronautical Engineering
Year in Coaching: 27th (First year at Ohio State)
Family: Wife, Raina; sons Dante and Dominic; daughter Giamina
Full Coaching Timeline
Matt Patricia Coaching Assignments
2025-pres. Defensive Coordinator……………………………………….. Ohio State University
2023 Senior Defensive Assistant………………………………….. Philadelphia Eagles
2022 Senior Defensive Advisor / Offensive Line…………….. New England Patriots
2021 Senior Defensive Advisor……………………………………. New England Patriots
2018-20 Head Coach……………………………………………………… Detroit Lions
2012-17 Defensive Coordinator……………………………………….. New England Patriots
2011 Safeties……………………………………………………………. New England Patriots
2006-10 Linebackers………………………………………………………. New England Patriots
2004-05 Assistant Offensive Line…………………………………….. New England Patriots
2001-03 Graduate Assistant…………………………………………….. Syracuse
1999-2000 Defensive Line………………………………………………….. Amherst
1996 Graduate Assistant…………………………………………….. RPI
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