It seemed like a formality at this point, but Ohio State defensive coordinator Matt Patricia will remain a Buckeye at least through the 2026 season.

Ohio State Athletic Director Ross Bjork confirmed to the Columbus Dispatch on Monday that Patricia and the program reached an agreement on a revised contract.

Patricia signed a three-year contract worth $2.5 million per year when he joined Ohio State last year, but the new deal is expected to pay him $3 million per season according to Eleven Warriors, which will make Patricia one of the highest paid coordinators in college football.

Some were skeptical when Ohio State hired Patricia to replace Jim Knowles after his failed stint as an NFL head coach, but he silenced all doubters with a dominant 2025 campaign despite a failed defense of the National Championship. The Buckeyes defense gave up 9.3 points per game and allowed 219.1 yards per game, the best marks in college football since the 2011 Alabama Crimson Tide.

Patricia was rumored to be drawing interest from NFL teams about a possible return to the league, but he’ll be sticking around and will try to do what he did last year and that’s rebuild the Buckeye defense. He walked into Columbus having to replace several starters who went NFL-bound and this coming season he’ll have to do it again.

Caleb Downs, Sonny Styles, and Arvell Reese are among the seven starters who are heading to the NFL with their first big interviews coming this week at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis so Patricia will have his work cut out for him heading into 2026.

Ohio State did recruit strong on defense bringing in five-star linebacker Sincere Johnson, four-star defensive backs Jay Timmons and Blaine Bradford as well as four-star defensive end Khary Wilder.