The 2024 college football season was a wild one, to say the least. It was also an unprecedented one, which led to a final that wouldn’t be possible in any previous year. 2024 was the first time 12 different teams made the College Football Playoff, expanding from four teams, which was the norm since 2014.
Created as a way to bring more parity to the playoff and eliminate bias for the top conferences, the new format partly did its job, but the teams that benefited were ones with rich history in the sport. Ohio State and Notre Dame, the No. 8 and 7 seeds, respectively, pulled off some upsets on their way to the National Championship game. Ultimately, the Buckeyes came out on top, with their elite talent putting it all together on an epic run.
Head coach Ryan Day, who was maligned following a brutal loss to Michigan, ended up quieting his haters and showing his class as both a recruiter and coach. Winning the title led to Day earning a new contract extension that runs through 2031 and makes him one of the three highest-paid coaches in college football.
Ohio State hires Matt Patricia as defensive coordinator
Day isn’t content with just the one national title, though, as he’s already back on the recruiting trail, and is making hires to improve his coaching staff. His latest addition has been polarizing for a variety of reasons, as Day has hired Matt Patricia as his newest defensive coordinator.
Patricia is best known for his time with the New England Patriots, working as Bill Belichick‘s defensive coordinator from 2012 to 2017. He then left to be the Detroit Lions head coach, but that didn’t work out well at all, prompting him to go back to New England in a different role.
Patricia has an outstanding relationship with Belichick, even appearing on Belichick’s show while he was working with Underdog Fantasy. Belichick then took the head coach job at North Carolina, where the former Patriots head coach likely would have loved to bring Patricia on in some capacity.
Day has beaten him to the punch, but whether it will work out in Ohio State’s favor remains to be seen.
