Ohio State Fires Robby Discher: Ryan Day’s First Staff Move Rattles Buckeyes Futures

Ohio State has fired special teams coordinator Robby Discher, Ohio State Athletics announced Monday, making it the first in-season staff change of Ryan Day’s eight years as head coach. The move comes two days after a 41-28 home loss to Oregon and one week after a 30-18 defeat at USC, a two-game skid that has pushed the Buckeyes from No. 2 to No. 21 in the AP poll.

Discher lasted nine months in Columbus. Day hired him from Illinois, where he served as special teams coordinator and tight ends coach for three seasons, to fix a unit that finished 67th in ESPN’s special teams efficiency metric last year. Instead, Ohio State ranks 102nd in that same measure this season, and the dismissal is the clearest sign yet that Day is willing to shake up a program that opened the year as the preseason No. 1.

The Fake Punt That Cost Discher His Job

The breaking point arrived in the second quarter on Saturday. Ohio State led 14-3 and had Oregon facing fourth-and-9 from its own 31-yard line when the Ducks lined up to punt. Instead, defensive lineman Teitum Tuioti threw a jump pass to fellow defensive lineman Matayo Uiagalelei for a 30-yard gain. Oregon scored a touchdown on that drive and went on to reel off 38 unanswered points, the most Ohio State has surrendered in a row since 1999.

The trouble extended well beyond one trick play. Three penalties on punt coverage and returns, plus a 44-yard punt return allowed, hurt the Buckeyes in the loss at USC the week before. Ohio State’s kickoff return unit averages just 17.4 yards per attempt, which ranks 118th nationally, even as its kickoff coverage ranks fifth. After the Oregon game, Day said the penalties were “a killer” and promised to “evaluate everything,” adding that accountability “starts with the staff, and then it goes to the players.”

The financial cost is modest by big-time college football standards. Discher’s contract ran through next season and was reported to leave Ohio State owing him more than $500,000, though the figure could shrink if he lands another job. The hire itself was a departure for Day, who had used position coaches to oversee kickoff, punt and return units in 2024 and 2025 rather than employing a dedicated special teams coordinator.

A Season Slipping Away in Columbus

At 6-3 overall and 4-2 in the Big Ten, Ohio State has lost three games in a season for the first time under Day and the first time since 2011. The back-to-back double-digit defeats are the first for the program in 22 years, and the Buckeyes are 6-5 over their last 11 games dating back to last December’s Big Ten title game loss to Indiana. The No. 21 ranking is the program’s lowest since early in the 2014 season.

The offense has also been without starting quarterback Julian Sayin, whose injury absence is expected to last the rest of the season. Still, critics have pointed out that Sayin’s absence does not explain every problem, including a sputtering rushing attack. Day, who rebuilt his standing with the 2024 national championship, acknowledged the standard in Columbus after the loss, saying three defeats in a season is “unacceptable” and that he owns it. Ohio State has three games left, starting Saturday against Northwestern, followed by Nebraska and rival Michigan.

What the Firing Means for Ohio State’s Betting Markets

The futures board has already moved sharply. On Polymarket, Ohio State now sits at 6% to win the Big Ten, fourth-best in the conference and down 41 points from two weeks ago, when the Buckeyes were the favorites. Indiana leads at 45%, ahead of UCLA at 29% and Oregon at 13%. BetMGM lists Ohio State at +1500 to win the Big Ten and +6600 to win the national championship, behind Indiana at -110, UCLA at +300, Oregon at +650 and USC at +800 in the conference race.

The playoff path is just as narrow. No team with three regular-season losses has ever made the College Football Playoff, and Ohio State was already outside the field when the selection committee released its first rankings. The Athletic’s projections put the Buckeyes’ playoff chances at 22 percent as of Sunday, with most of that tied to winning the Big Ten and winning a tiebreaker, which would require help from other teams.

For this week, the market still treats Ohio State as the better team despite the slide. BetMGM has the Buckeyes as 12.5-point favorites over Northwestern with a total of 47.5 and a moneyline of -475. The opening line was around 10.5, so bettors have pushed the number up even after two straight losses. Northwestern, also 6-3, is 5-4 against the spread, the same mark as Ohio State.

The bigger question for the market is whether a special teams change moves the needle at all. Ohio State’s problems run through a banged-up offense and a defense that allowed 38 straight points, so removing one coordinator is unlikely to repair the season on its own. Day said more evaluation is coming, and further staff changes would be the next storyline to watch as the Buckeyes try to stop the bleeding against Northwestern on Saturday at noon ET.