Ohio State’s best defensive players have enjoyed playing for their first-year defensive coordinator and getting an early look at what it means to be a pro.
Arlington, TX – Kayden McDonald seeks out Matt Patricia before every Ohio State football game for one reason.
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He’s huggy.
Veteran columnist Jeff Gilbert writes the OHSAA and Ohio State sports for Press Pros Magazine.com.
No loose, respect-my-personal-space embrace for these two footballers. No side hugs. No, McDonald – all 326 pounds of him – brings the full-on bear hug.
“If you don’t go in there nice and big, you’re going to be in a lot of trouble,” Patricia said. “You got to swell up a little bit.”
McDonald, Ohio State’s All-American defensive tackle, also loves to liberally apply black face paint on game day. He began the tradition this season for the black-out game versus Penn State, and he played well.
“I’m scary,” McDonald said and smiled. “I just feel like a different person with that on, and I feel like it helps me with my confidence and helps me play better.”
OSU defensive lineman Kayden McDonald pressures Arch Manning in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s win over Texas.
After one such pregame bear hug, Patricia saw in a mirror that a lot of McDonald’s black paint had rubbed off one side of his beard, turning it much darker than the other sprinkled-with-gray side.
Call it a metaphor for this season. Because Patricia’s personality, teaching acumen, football IQ and NFL experience have rubbed off on his players since his first day as their defensive coordinator. And unlike McDonald’s black paint, Patricia’s education and schematic artistry have been impossible to wash off.
“Having him as a coach, I’ve seen a lot of things I haven’t ever seen before,” McDonald said. “The experience level he has is top notch, so you know he’s going to get me to where I need to be in life.”
Patricia built his expertise during 16 years with the New England Patriots. He has three Super Bowl rings including two as defensive coordinator.
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“The way he teaches the game, even guys coming back who just got drafted, say this is basically what I’m doing in the NFL right now,” linebacker Sonny Styles said. “That was good to hear, knowing that he’s having us even more prepared for what we’re about to see.”
“I just try to stay true to who I am and what my reason is. I’m just getting back to my why.” – Matt Patricia
Patricia’s three-season tenure as the Detroit Lions head coach from 2018-20 did not go well. But his first season back in college has returned him to his roots and produced the nation’s best defense, one that is favored to lead No. 2 Ohio State to a Cotton Bowl and playoff quarterfinal victory over No. 10 Miami on New Year’s Eve.
“I just try to stay true to who I am and what my reason is,” he said. “I’m just getting back to my why.”
Some of Ohio State’s best defensive players expressed Monday morning why they are grateful for Patricia’s presence and his pursuit of his ‘why’.
“What separates him is the way he’s able to articulate it and the way he’s able to teach us,” Styles said. “He’s such an amazing teacher. He makes the game feel so simple, and that’s not always easy.”
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Patricia’s schemes this season have been praised as complex and deceptive. But the players shake their heads at the idea of complexity. They know and grasp what no one else does, what no one else imagines as simple.
“The way he teaches the game, the way we call it, it’s easy for us to understand, and sometimes it’s hard for the offense to kind of figure out what we’re in.” – Sonny Styles on coach Matt Patricia
“He always says, easy for us, hard for them,” Styles said. “The way he teaches the game, the way we call it, it’s easy for us to understand, and sometimes it’s hard for the offense to kind of figure out what we’re in.”
Like any great teacher, Patricia finds what works for each player. For interior linemen like McDonald, the message is straightforward.
“He makes it like, ‘OK, I just want you to do this and do this really good,’” McDonald said. “He helped me be violent with my intentions on the football field.”
Defensive backs and linebackers must read, react and anticipate more. Their technique to go from point A to point B must be more precise. So Patricia has watched a lot of video with them one on one and in pairs.
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Davison Igbinosun, a two-year starter at cornerback, has studied himself with Patricia, learned to play his position better and reduce the number of pass interference penalties he was known for in 2024. They even watch tape of former NFL players like Aquib Talib, a Pro Bowl player Patricia coached with the Patriots.
“He pours into us tremendously,” Igbinosun said. “I learned to process the game as a defensive coordinator and offenses a lot faster. It just puts me in a better position to make plays.”
Safety Caleb Downs, often considered the smartest player on the field, loves to learn from Patricia on the field and in the video room.
“He desires to be a teacher, which is something that’s not always the case,” Downs said. “That’s something that makes him special, and I feel like that’s impacted my knowledge of the game. I just like to see his perspective of the game. He’s been doing it so long, and he’s always willing to allow me to learn from him.”
Patricia’s aim to teach players to think like coaches, to see defenses the way quarterbacks and receivers do, serves two purposes. First, he wants them to help the Buckeyes win. Second, he wants to prepare them for their shot at the NFL.
“I’m very grateful for Coach Patricia. He played a major part and put me on the scene. We’re blessed to have him…great coach, great guy.” – Arvell Reese
Patricia tells his players the more they learn now, the better chance they have to stick in the NFL. As rookies their competition for roster spots and playing time will come against veterans.
The veterans will know their routine and playbook. They won’t be wondering where they will be living, what their workout schedule is or how to eat well. All they have to worry about, Patricia said, is kicking the rookies’ butts.
So he teaches whenever and wherever he can.
“If their football learning is quicker, then everything settles down,” he said. “Because you’re going to be physically better, faster, and then you can go compete better.”
Patricia’s teaching and building of the defense has benefitted every player who will take the field against Miami. But no one ascended to stardom quite like linebacker Arvell Reese. He’s a first-year starter from Cleveland Glenville who, if he turns pro, will be one of the first defensive players drafted in April.
“I’m very grateful for Coach Patricia,” Reese said. “He played a major part and put me on the scene. We’re blessed to have him … great coach, great guy.”
And always ready for a bear hug.
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