As Ohio State sits in the midst of its worst regular season in over a decade, Ryan Day is beginning to make changes to his coaching staff.
Day has fired special teams coordinator Robby Discher after less
than a season. The firing comes on the heels of the Buckeyes' 41-28 loss to Oregon this past weekend, which dropped them to 6-3 overall and 4-2 in Big Ten play.
Ohio State's kickoff return unit struggled under Discher, as the Buckeyes rank 118th in the country, averaging 17.4 yards per return. However, their kickoff return defense is much stronger, ranking fifth in the nation by holding opponents to 12.8 yards per return.
The firing also comes after Ohio State's special teams unit was caught off guard by a trick play from the Oregon punt unit that resulted in a pickup of 30 yards for the Ducks. Oregon went on to score a touchdown on the drive.
Day hired Discher from within the Big Ten this past offseason, as he previously worked on Bret Bielema's staff at Illinois. The hire broke a two-year trend by Day, as he previously had assigned position coaches work with special teams units instead of having a dedicated special teams coach on his staff, as noted by The Columbus Dispatch.
Per the terms of his contract, which was obtained by The Dispatch, Discher will be owed more than $500,000 by the Buckeyes in his buyout. He had an additional year on his contract.
Following the Buckeyes' most recent loss, Day said he needs to evaluate everything with the program and come into the facilities on Sunday to figure out where Ohio State was "coming up short on." The loss to the Ducks gave Ohio State its first three-loss season under Day, and the program's first since 2011.
"It all starts with the staff, and then it goes to the players," Day said after the Oregon loss. "So there needs to be accountability for all of it. And then we go from there."
Ohio State will look to end its two-game skid on Saturday, Nov. 14, against Northwestern.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ryan Day makes first staffing change amid Ohio State's worst season in over a decade
