Report: Ohio State Expected To Hire Illinois’ Robby Discher As Special Teams Coach

According to a report from CBS Sports, Ohio State is expected to hire former Illinois special teams coach/tight ends coach Robby Discher as its new Special Teams coach.

Headed into the offseason, the Buckeyes were not necessarily expected to hire a special teams coach because, for the past two seasons, they had been without one. Instead of having one coach to oversee special teams, Ohio State used several coaches on staff to work with the special teams. Now, Discher, who coached at Illinois for three seasons, will be tasked with leading Ohio State’s special teams.

Discher had success as the Fighting Illini’s Special Teams coach. His special teams units ranked No. 16 and No. 30 in 2024 and 2025, respectively, according to ESPN’s special teams efficiency metric.

Before coaching at Illinois, Discher made stops at Louisiana, Georgia and Tulane. Although he was a quality control coach at Georgia, he was a special teams coach with Louisiana and Tulane.

The Buckeyes have had some impressive special teams moments over the past two seasons. Former safety Caleb Downs had a punt return touchdown during the 2024 season, and cornerback Lorenzo Styles Jr. had a kick return touchdown during the 2025 season, but overall, the unit has struggled with consistency.

During the postseason, then-senior kicker Jayden Fielding had a couple of crucial misses, including one that came from just 27 yards in Ohio State’s 13-10 loss to Indiana in the Big Ten championship game.

With Discher coming in and the Buckeyes also adding former Baylor kicker Connor Hawkins, who went 18-22 on field goals last year, they should see improvements in the kicking game.