Matt Patricia | Defensive Coordinator

Matt Patricia

Title:
Defensive Coordinator

Matt Patricia was named Ohio State’s defensive coordinator in February 2025 after a long NFL career that included 19 seasons with the New England Patriots and a head coaching stint with the Detroit Lions. He arrived in Columbus with extensive championship experience, having been part of six Super Bowl teams and three Super Bowl champions, including two title teams as New England’s defensive coordinator.

Patricia’s first season with the Buckeyes was a success by any measure. Ohio State finished 12-0 in the regular season and ranked No. 1 nationally in total defense, passing defense and scoring defense, becoming the first team since the 2011 Alabama Crimson Tide to allow fewer yards and points per game in a season. The Buckeyes also led the nation in opposing red-zone percentage and first downs allowed per game, and the defense was powered by consensus All-Americans Caleb Downs, Kayden McDonald and Arvell Reese. Downs won the Jim Thorpe Award and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, McDonald was named Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year, and Reese earned Big Ten Linebacker of the Year honors. Patricia’s work in Columbus also earned him finalist recognition for the Broyles Award.

Before coming to Ohio State, Patricia spent 16 seasons in New England in a variety of roles, including offensive assistant, linebackers coach, safeties coach, defensive play-caller and defensive coordinator. During his six seasons as the Patriots’ defensive coordinator (2012-17), New England reached the AFC Championship Game each year and went 75-21 overall, with Patricia’s defenses ranking among the NFL’s best in points allowed and helping the Patriots win Super Bowl XLIX and Super Bowl LI. He later served as head coach of the Detroit Lions from 2018-20, returned to New England from 2021-22 in multiple roles, and spent the 2023 season as a defensive assistant in Philadelphia.

A native of Sherrill, N.Y., Patricia graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he earned a degree in aeronautical engineering and was a four-year letterwinner as an offensive lineman.

He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at RPI in 1996 and then spent three seasons as a graduate assistant at Syracuse before joining the Patriots in 2004.

Patricia and his wife, Raina, have three children: sons Dante and Dominic, and daughter Giamina.

Ohio State (2025-Present)
In his first season at Ohio State, Bowen helped guide the Buckeyes back to the College Football Playoff for a second straight year, to a win over Michigan in Ann Arbor and to their first Big Ten Championship appearance since 2020.

2025:
- Patricia’s first season at Ohio State was a major success, as the Buckeyes fielded the best defense in the nation and went 12-0 in the regular season to earn a second straight College Football Playoff berth.
- Ohio State finished No. 1 nationally in total defense, passing defense and scoring defense, becoming the first team since the 2011 Alabama Crimson Tide to allow fewer yards and points per game in a season. The Buckeyes also led the country in opposing red-zone percentage and first downs allowed per game, and the unit was powered by consensus All-Americans Caleb Downs, Kayden McDonald and Arvell Reese.
- Downs anchored the secondary with a decorated senior season, winning the Jim Thorpe Award and earning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honors after posting 68 tackles, five tackles for loss, two interceptions and two forced fumbles. McDonald was equally dominant up front, earning unanimous All-America honors and Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year recognition after finishing with 65 tackles, 9.0 tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks, two forced fumbles and two pass breakups. Reese emerged as one of the nation’s top linebackers, earning consensus All-America honors and Big Ten Butkus-Fitzgerald Linebacker of the Year after recording 69 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks.
- The defense also featured strong seasons from Davison Igbinosun and Caden Curry, both of whom earned All-Big Ten recognition and were later selected in the 2026 NFL Draft. Igbinosun posted 53 tackles, eight pass breakups and two interceptions, while Curry finished with 66 tackles, 16.5 tackles for loss and 11 sacks.
- These efforts and performances earned Patricia finalist recognition for the Broyles Award.
- That dominance showed up in the draft, where seven of the 11 defensive starters were selected, including Downs going 11th overall to the Dallas Cowboys, Reese going fifth overall to the New York Giants and Styles going seventh overall to the Washington Commanders. McDonald went 36th overall to the Houston Texans, Curry was picked 214th overall by the Indianapolis Colts, Igbinosun went 62nd overall to the Buffalo Bills and Lorenzo Styles Jr. was drafted 172nd overall by the New Orleans Saints. Ohio State’s linebacker haul was especially notable, as it became the first school to have two linebackers taken in the top 10 of the same draft.

NFL Career Recap
Matt Patricia has spent more than two decades in the NFL. Before coming to Ohio State, his most recent NFL stop was in Philadelphia, where he served as a senior defensive assistant in 2023. He previously spent two years with New England as a senior football advisor and offensive line coach in 2021-22. Before returning to the Patriots, he was the head coach of the Detroit Lions from 2018-20, and his 2018 defense ranked among the league’s better units in sacks per pass attempt, passing defense, rushing defense and total defense.

Patricia’s most successful NFL run came in New England from 2012-17, when he served as the Patriots’ defensive coordinator. Over those six seasons, the Patriots went 75-21, the best record in the NFL during that span, and won at least 12 games every year. Patricia’s defenses were consistently among the league’s toughest; ranking second in points allowed over that stretch and holding opponents to 20 points or fewer in 53 games and 17 points or fewer in 47. In 2016, his unit led the NFL in scoring defense by allowing just 15.6 points per game, and New England finished his tenure with 157 takeaways and an NFL-best turnover differential. The Patriots won Super Bowls XLIX and LI during that stretch, further establishing Patricia as one of the league’s top defensive coordinators.

Before becoming defensive coordinator, Patricia coached the Patriots’ linebackers from 2006-10 and safeties in 2011. His work with players such as Ohio State alum Mike Vrabel and Jerod Mayo helped define that era, with Vrabel earning Pro Bowl and All-Pro honors in 2007 and Mayo setting a Patriots record with 174 tackles.

Patricia’s NFL career began in New England in 2004 as an offensive assistant; the same season the Patriots won Super Bowl XXXIX. He was promoted to assistant offensive line coach the following year before moving to the defensive side of the ball.

Background
His coaching background included six years in college football, with stops as a graduate assistant at Syracuse from 2001-03, as defensive line coach at Amherst from 1999-2000, and as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in 1996. Between his early coaching stops, he also worked for two years as an aeronautical engineer.

Patricia’s foundation was also built as a player. At RPI, he played center and guard and was part of a senior class that helped the Engineers to a 31-8 record and three ECAC championships. Off the field, he was raised in Sherrill, N.Y., attended Vernon-Verona-Sherrill Central School, and later earned both a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering from RPI and a master’s degree in education from the University of Massachusetts.

Family
Patricia and his wife, Raina, have three children: sons Dominic and Dante, and daughter Giamina.

FBS Postseason History

Season	School	Bowl Game	Opponent	Result
2025	Ohio State	Cotton Bowl	Miami	L, 24-14
2025	Ohio State	Big Ten Championship Game	Indiana	L, 13-10
2001	Syracuse	Insight Bowl	Kansas State	W, 26-3

Coaching History

Seasons	School/Team	Title/Position Coached
2025-Present	Ohio State	Defensive Coordinator
2023	Philadelphia Eagles	Senior Defensive Assistant
2022	New England Patriots	Senior Defensive Advisor / Offensive Line
2021	New England Patriots	Senior Defensive Advisor
2018-20	Detroit Lions	Head Coach
2012-17	New England Patriots	Defensive Coordinator
2011	New England Patriots	Safeties
2006-10	New England Patriots	Linebackers
2004-05	New England Patriots	Assistant Offensive Line
2001-03	Syracuse	Assistant Offensive Line
1999-2000	Amherst	Defensive Line
1996	Graduate Assistant	RPI