COLUMBUS — Ohio State has fired special teams coordinator Robby Discher after nine games, a source confirmed to BAD. CBS Sports first reported the news.
Discher was hired this offseason from Illinois as head coach Ryan Day sought to revamp a special teams unit that had underperformed for much of his tenure. Ohio State currently ranks 57th in special teams SP+, according to ESPN, and 92nd in special teams FEI, according to the Fremeau Index. The Buckeyes rank 113th in the country in punt return average at only 5.9 yards.
Watching Ohio State’s special teams this season would tell you more than any metric could. There just haven’t been any apparent improvements in OSU’s special teams operations since Discher took over, and Day had expressed displeasure with that facet of his team multiple times in the lead-up to making this decision. There’s also the element of Day wanting to send a message with a staff firing after his team took a second straight loss over the weekend, the third of the season, and now seems out of College Football Playoff contention. Discher is also the low man on the staff, being new and the lowest-paid of the 10 main assistants.
It’s unclear if Day, who will speak to the media on Tuesday, will make any other staff changes.
In Ohio State’s 41-28 loss to Oregon on Saturday, the Ducks flipped the game with a fake punt in the second quarter. Oregon, trailing 14-3 at the time, stole momentum from the Buckeyes, who never got it back. Two weeks ago in a loss at USC, Ohio State allowed a 44-yard punt return that helped set up a touchdown drive for the Trojans.
OSU has also had a rash of special teams penalties this year, including multiple procedural penalties where players were lined up wrong. Ohio State’s 19 special teams penalties are tied for the third-most in the country, according to Pro Football Focus. Ole Miss and Syracuse are the only Power Four programs with more special teams penalties. This is the second-most special teams penalties in a single season of the Day era, trailing the 23 committed in 2022, and at least three games remain this season.
There’s been no official announcement on Discher’s firing yet, and it’s unclear who will take over special teams duties. Last year, Day tasked his position assistants with running different parts of the special teams operation, with program assistant Rob Keys overseeing the overall special teams plan.
Keys, whose official title is senior analyst, is still on staff and could take over special teams in the interim.
If this is the only change, then I can't see an interpretation other than this being a PR move so that it's easier to answer questions about accountability. The ST have been bad long before Discher arrived and if anyone thinks they are going to get better with him gone then I'm gonna need to hear the reason. Fireing Bowen would be a change that actually shows accountability. But I'm not holding my breath.
ST for Ohio State is kinda of like defense for USC / Riley. The problem is evergreen despite what we hear from the podium. I'm just not sure it's appropriately valued and sufficient practice time is allocated.