Ohio State reportedly to hire Robby Discher as special teams coordinator

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Ohio State is expected to hire Robby Discher as a special teams coordinator, according to multiple reports.

Discher has been a special teams coach for the last decade, including the past three seasons at Illinois. He also coached the Illini’s tight ends.

He was Tulane’s special teams coordinator in 2022 and has also made stops at Georgia, Louisiana and Toledo.

The Buckeyes have not had a special teams coordinator since Parker Fleming was fired following the 2023 season.

Instead of replacing Fleming with a dedicated coordinator, coach Ryan Day designated a handful of position coaches to oversee the special teams units over the last two seasons. Quality control coaches and program assistants were involved as well.

Illinois’ special teams have been considered among the best in the Football Bowl Subdivision in recent years.

The Illini ranked as high as No. 7 in special teams in 2024, according to opponent-adjusted ratings from statistician Brian Fremeau. They were No. 24 this past season.

Discher worked with David Olano, who was an honorable mention All-Big Ten kicker in each of the past two seasons after making 37 of 43 field-goal attempts, including the game-winning kick in a win over Tennessee in the Music City Bowl in December.

According to Fremeau’s FEI ratings, Ohio State was No. 17 in special teams when it won the national title without a coordinator in 2024, but fell to No. 54 this past year.

The hiring of Discher would give the Buckeyes 12 primary assistant coaches. The Buckeyes have expanded their staff since the NCAA removed its limit of 10 coaches who can coach during practices and games.

The Buckeyes have hired Arthur Smith as offensive coordinator and Cortez Hankton as wide receivers to replace Brian Hartline in previous moves this offseason.

Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Email him at jkaufman@dispatch.com and follow along on Bluesky, Instagram and X for more.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football reportedly to hire new special teams coordinator

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