Ohio State has fired special teams coordinator Robby Discher, the first staff change to follow the Buckeyes’ 41-28 loss to Oregon at Ohio Stadium on Saturday, November 7. Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports first reported the move on Monday morning, and Heavy and A to Z Sports both reported the firing the same morning.
Discher had arrived in Columbus during the offseason from Illinois, according to A to Z Sports, in a move that report described as one that clearly did not work out. Through nine games, Ohio State had already been flagged for 14 special teams penalties, A to Z Sports reported.
The Oregon game supplied the most glaring recent example. A to Z Sports reported that Ohio State’s most visible special teams error in recent weeks came against the Ducks on Saturday, in a loss that dropped the Buckeyes to three defeats on the season.
The defeat has reshaped Ohio State’s season. A to Z Sports reported that the loss all but ends the Buckeyes’ hopes of making the College Football Playoff in 2026, and the program fell to No. 21 in the Associated Press poll — a slide NewsForce247 covered as Ohio State’s lowest ranking since 2014.
Head coach Ryan Day has wasted no time making changes, A to Z Sports reported, and further moves could follow. Heavy reported that more staff changes could be coming, though as of Monday morning Discher was the only coordinator who had been let go.
Special teams had been a season-long problem rather than a one-game lapse. Fourteen penalties in nine games put the unit among the most penalized parts of the team, and the Oregon loss turned a simmering issue into an immediate one for a program that entered the fall with championship expectations.
The change also lands in an already difficult week on campus. Ohio State separately placed a fraternity on interim suspension after a video circulated showing two people apparently set on fire — a story NewsForce247 covered in Ohio State Suspends Fraternity After Video Shows Two People Set on Fire.
The timeline of the slide is short and steep. Ohio State lost 41-28 to Oregon at home on Saturday, November 7, its third loss of the season, A to Z Sports reported. By Monday morning — less than 48 hours later — the first coaching change had been made, and it came in the phase of the game where the Buckeyes’ mistakes had been piling up all season.
Discher’s hiring had been an offseason bet: Day brought him in from Illinois to fix a unit that needed new direction, according to A to Z Sports. Nine games later, with 14 special teams penalties on the ledger and the Oregon error fresh, the program decided the bet had failed. Heavy reported that the move may not be the last, framing Discher’s firing as the first change rather than a complete housecleaning.
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on
What we know: Discher is out as special teams coordinator, as reported by CBS Sports and confirmed in reporting by Heavy and A to Z Sports on Monday. What we’re still waiting on: Ohio State had not, in the reports cited here, named an interim replacement or detailed how the unit’s duties will be split for the rest of the season.
What happens next is a Buckeyes team trying to salvage its final weeks with a reshuffled staff. Any additional coaching changes, and the naming of Discher’s replacement, are expected to come from Day and the program in the days ahead.
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