First Domino Falls as Ryan Day Makes Change to the Buckeyes' Coaching Staff

Ryan Day didn't mince words after Saturday's loss to the Oregon Ducks. He said that the performance was unacceptable and that people were going to be held accountable for the game.

Well, he is a man of his word. On Monday afternoon, Day made the decision to part ways with special teams coordinator Robby Discher. The turning point in Saturday's game was obviously the fake punt that worked to perfection against the Buckeyes' punt return team.

However, that was just the straw that broke the camel's back. There were signs that this third unit of the Buckeyes' team was not performing up to the task, and the proof was in the pudding. They had one of the worst punt return units in the country, as they ranked 117th (out of 138), 118th in kick returns, 7th in kick return coverage, and 103rd in punt return coverage. 

They have struggled to consistently make kicks, and overall, this team has simply been bad at special teams. This decision wasn't made off of a one-game sample size; it was a combination of poor performance throughout the entire season, and now it is coming back to bite.

Day hired Discher, who spent the last two seasons at Big Ten opponent Illinois Fighting Illini. It was there that he was not only the special teams coordinator, but he was the tight ends coach as well.

His coaching career has been a decent one. It kicked off in 2009 when he started coaching at Kearney High School in Missouri, where he began climbing the ranks. He bounced around college football coaching at programs of several different levels, including the Toledo Rockets and the Georgia Bulldogs. 

The work that he put in just 9 months on the job was simply not good enough. In their two losses in consecutive weeks, one of the key plays of each game was a special teams play. One was a return plus a personal foul that gave the USC Trojans great field position, and the other was a fake punt against Oregon last week.

Special teams is a 3rd of he football that is typically a very important point of Ryan Day's program, but this year, this year against good enough.

Day will need to turn and quickly find a solution. Whether it is him or someone else on the staff, they will fill his spot, and the Buckeyes will carry forward what will become a lost season in Columbus, Ohio.