Ohio State Fires Special Teams Coordinator Robby Discher After Oregon Loss

Ryan Day has started making changes to his Ohio State staff, and the first one came on the side of the ball that has cost the Buckeyes in all three of their losses.

Ohio State has fired special teams coordinator Robby Discher, CBS Sports and 247Sports' Matt Zenitz reported Monday morning, two days after a 41-28 home loss to Oregon. FootballScoop also reported the move, citing its own sources. Ohio State had not made an announcement or named who will run special teams for the rest of the season as of Monday morning.

Discher lasted nine games in Columbus after Day hired him away from Illinois this winter.

A Hire Meant to Fix a Long-Running Problem

Discher was supposed to be the answer to a problem Ohio State had been talking about for years. He was the program's first full-time special teams coordinator since Parker Fleming was fired after the 2023 season, according to 247Sports, and he arrived with a strong résumé. Illinois ranked 16th in ESPN's special teams efficiency metric in 2024 and 30th in 2025 under Discher, while Ohio State finished 67th in 2025.

It did not carry over. According to 247Sports, Ohio State ranks No. 118 nationally in kickoff return defense, allowing 25.1 yards per return, and No. 113 in punt return defense at 13.8 yards per return. FootballScoop noted that Day said publicly in October that he could not say the unit had improved.

Where It Cost Ohio State

The mistakes showed up in every loss. Kicker Connor Hawkins has made 85.7 percent of his field goals, per 247Sports, but one of his misses came at a crucial point in the 24-23 loss at Texas in September.

At USC on Halloween, an Ohio State personal foul after a punt set up the Trojans at the Buckeyes' 31 for their second touchdown, Trent Mosley added a 44-yard punt return, and a holding penalty on a punt return pinned Ohio State at its own 5. 247Sports counted three special teams penalties in the 30-18 loss.

Saturday was the breaking point. Ohio State led Oregon 14-3 late in the first half when the Ducks lined up to punt on fourth-and-9 from their own 31. Edge rusher Teitum Tuioti took the direct snap and threw a 30-yard jump pass to Matayo Uiagalelei, and Oregon finished the drive with a Dierre Hill Jr. touchdown run. That started 38 straight Oregon points in a game Ohio State never recovered from.

Who Is Robby Discher

Discher, a Missouri native, has built his career around special teams. He started as a graduate assistant at Sam Houston State in 2010 under Willie Fritz and was the Bearkats' special teams coordinator in 2012 and 2013. As a graduate assistant at Oklahoma State in 2014, he won FootballScoop's special teams coordinator of the year award, the first graduate assistant to win one of its coach of the year honors.

From there he ran special teams at Toledo from 2016 to 2019 and Louisiana in 2020, then spent 2021 as a special teams quality control coach at Georgia, on the staff that won the national title. He was Tulane's special teams coordinator in 2022 before spending three seasons at Illinois as special teams coordinator and tight ends coach.

What It Means for Ohio State

The move adds to the pressure around a staff that has struggled since Julian Sayin's shoulder injury in October. Ohio State is 6-3 and 4-2 in the Big Ten, has lost two straight with true freshman Luke Fahey at quarterback, and has fallen from No. 2 to No. 21 in the AP poll over that stretch, according to 247Sports, its lowest ranking since early in the 2014 season.

It also comes a day before Ohio State makes defensive coordinator Matt Patricia and offensive coordinator Arthur Smith available to reporters, which Undrafted looked at in what Tuesday's media session could mean. Discher is the first assistant to go. Whether he is the last will depend a lot on the final three weeks.

The Buckeyes host Northwestern on Saturday, Nov. 14, play at Nebraska on Nov. 21 and close the regular season at home against Michigan on Nov. 28. Follow all of Ohio State's coverage on Undrafted.

Sources: Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports and 247Sports; 247Sports' Patrick Murphy; FootballScoop; Heavy; ESPN box scores. More college football coverage on Undrafted.