Ohio State · Big TenOhio State removes Robby Discher after nine games
The coaching change followed the Oct. 31 loss at USC, leaving Ryan Day three regular-season games to repair special teams and revive Ohio State’s playoff path.
NOV 11, 2026
Current College Football Playoff ranking
Record after the USC loss
Regular-season games left to repair the path
01 · The NewsOhio State removes Robby Discher
After a 30-18 loss at USC on Oct. 31 pushed Ohio State to 6-3 and No. 20 in the College Football Playoff rankings, Ryan Day removed special teams coordinator Robby Discher with three regular-season games left.
Former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer questioned the timing.
“I am very opposed to make coaching staff decisions in the middle of the season. I never did it, when I see it I'm like what are you doing? Why would you do that?” Meyer said.
Ohio State hired Discher in January to address its special-teams problems. He lasted nine games. The program has not said why he left or who will take over the responsibilities.
The change comes against the backdrop of a sharp drop from 2025, when Ohio State went 12-2 and 9-0 in Big Ten play. The Buckeyes already have three losses this season, including a 24-23 defeat at Texas on Sept. 12 and the 30-18 loss at USC.
Josh Pate’s preseason bracket placed Ohio State as the No. 2 seed. The Buckeyes are now No. 20, a direct hit to that projection, and their playoff path requires both a strong finish and help from teams above them.
Day made the staff change without naming a successor. He now has to decide who will run special teams while Ohio State chases the conference title and a playoff opening.
02 · The StakesThe Stakes
Ohio State needs to win its final three games and get help from teams ahead of it to revive its at-large playoff hopes. Day’s bid to reach the Big Ten Championship Game now runs through the same closing stretch, with the Buckeyes also trying to install a new plan for a unit that has no identified replacement for Discher.
03 · The Detail Beneath the HeadlineWhat Most People Are Missing
The ranking slide looks less like a collapse from consensus expectations than from the highest-end projection. Ohio State opened at No. 20 in the preseason Playoff Committee ranking and No. 20 in the coaches poll, with the AP at No. 21; its latest CFP position is No. 20. Josh Pate’s No. 2 seed captured the ceiling, but the formal polls had already placed the Buckeyes near their present spot.
The sharper departure is from 2025 conference performance. Ohio State went 9-0 in Big Ten play, while the Texas and USC defeats in 2026 carried a combined 13-point margin.
“I am very opposed to make coaching staff decisions in the middle of the season. I never did it, when I see it I'm like what are you doing? Why would you do that?”
Urban Meyer04 · The Open QuestionsQuestions to Be Answered
Which coach will take over special teams for the final three games?
Ohio State has not identified Discher’s replacement, and the choice will reveal whether Day makes a narrow reassignment or changes the workload elsewhere on the staff. The first staff designation and the next game’s sideline responsibilities are the tells. That coach inherits three regular-season games with the at-large path and Big Ten Championship Game pursuit both exposed to another loss.
05 · The Watch ListWhat We're Watching
Can Ohio State win the final three?
The Buckeyes need a perfect closing stretch to revive their at-large playoff hopes and keep Day’s Big Ten Championship Game bid alive.
Who runs special teams?
Day made the staff change without naming a successor, leaving Ohio State to install a new plan for the unit.