Mediocrity in any part of the game is unacceptable at Ohio State. Mediocre might be an optimistic view of the Buckeyes’ special teams in recent years.
The Buckeyes ranked 67th in SP+ for special teams in 2025. Kicker Jayden Fielding missed backbreaking crunch-time field goals, namely his 27-yarder against Indiana that could have tied the Big Ten Championship Game before Ohio State lost 13-10 to the eventual national champions. Joe McGuire offered some good punts late in the season, but his average of 42.4 yards for the season could use improvement. Those are just a few of several areas that weren’t up to standard.
That’s why, for the first time in three years, Ryan Day hired a special teams coordinator: Robby Discher, formerly of Illinois.
“The goal is to always try to elevate any place you're at, and that's always a challenge,” Discher said. “And it's a competitive business, and it's a performance-based business. So it's like that with the players. It's like that with the coaches. But, yeah, obviously, there's a lot of things that Ohio State's done extremely well, and no sense on changing some of the stuff. And some things you feel strongly about, maybe you can have your own fingerprint on.”
Discher comes in with bona fide credentials as a special teams coordinator and has been getting under the hood to improve Ohio State’s third phase this spring.
“Just trying to get better every day,” Discher said. “I think the guys do a really good job competing here. It's been fun to be a part of. We've done a lot of competitive drills and technical drills and stuff. And just all the guys on offense, defense, extremely bought in. So, we're just trying to get better every day.”
Under Discher’s guidance, Illinois ranked 16th in special teams SP+ in 2024 and 30th in 2025. The Fighting Illini had one of the nation’s best kickers last season, David Olano, who went 20-of-23 on field goals. Punt returner Hank Beatty led the Big Ten in yards per return (14.1). Illinois led the nation in blocked punts and kicks in 2023 with seven.
Despite Ohio State’s statistical shortcomings on special teams – the Buckeyes didn’t block any punts or kicks last year on top of the above-mentioned flaws – Discher had a positive view of the unit coming in. But he’s already seen changes he wants to make.
“Anytime you go into a new job, there's things that you're going to keep the same, and there's things you're going to try to maybe have your own fingerprint on,” Discher said. “But I thought last year, going against Ohio State, they're very detailed, very well coached, played extremely hard, very physically tough. Obviously had a bunch of great athletes that could move and change direction. But, like anything, you go into a new job, there's things you're going to keep the same, and there's things you're going to try to change up. So it's kind of blending both, and it's been good.”
Transfer portal acquisitions accompanied Discher’s arrival at each of the three primary special teams specialist roles: Kicker Connor Hawkins from Baylor, long snapper Dalton Riggs from UCF and punter Brady Young from Houston Christian. McGuire is expected to remain Ohio State’s starting punter in 2026, but it’s good to have competition and depth there.
Hawkins sank 18-of-22 (81.8%) of his field goal attempts as a redshirt freshman at Baylor in 2025 with a long of 54 yards. In his three years as Ohio State’s kicker, Fielding never made a field goal of 50 yards or more. Many traits of Hawkins remind Discher of Olano, and with another year of development, Hawkins should only get better in 2026. And want to talk about a clutch factor? He hit a do-or-die 53-yard field goal as time expired to secure a Baylor win over Kansas State last year. Plus another game-winner in double overtime against SMU.
“Connor's super talented,” Discher said. “He had a great year last year at Baylor. And both (Hawkins and Olano), if you're asking me to compare them, both have a really good mindset. They're never too high. They're never too low. If you miss a kick, you've already forgot about it by the time you've got the next opportunity. So both those (guys) have got a good mindset. They're both super competitive, which is a big thing as well.”
Discher also expressed confidence in Ohio State’s full kicking operation with Riggs as snapper and McGuire as holder. Speaking of McGuire, the Buckeyes are calling on him to add more distance and hang time to his punts this offseason.
“We do individual drills and stuff just like every other position does,” Discher said. “And that's been a goal of ours, too, to add a couple yards on his distance and hang (time). Hang is going to be the most important part to cover on the punts, too. We work on just drop angles and that type stuff. But, yeah, we've been working on that. Joe does a great job.”
In the return game, Discher and Ohio State are still testing options. Brandon Inniss returned punts in 2025 and averaged 10.6 yards per return, but there are other explosive options on the Buckeyes’ roster. Freshman Legend Bey has game-changing speed and change of direction, making him a candidate, but as important as explosiveness is taking care of the football on punt return. The coaches will have to trust him to do that before he gets a shot in-game.
But Bey should be a clear frontrunner for kick return duties, though there will be other speedsters on the team who want to lay claim to that role. Inniss and Bey joined wide receivers Jeremiah Smith, De’Zie Jones, Phillip Bell and Chris Henry Jr. as punt returners during Ohio State’s second spring practice of the season, which featured an open media viewing window.
“The good thing about here is you've got a lot of good options (in the return game),” Discher said. “There's a lot of good players that have done it in games here. There's a lot of new guys. And there's a lot of good options. But at this point, I couldn't (name one over another). I don't have a great feeling.”
Discher sees a team-wide buy-in to be better on special teams in 2026. Under his guidance and with Hawkins in tow, perhaps the Buckeyes can jump from mediocre to good. Or even great, as they should be.
“The best players play on special teams here, which is, obviously, the culture's been set,” Discher said. “The expectation is your best players are on it, and everybody else is competing to find a spot. One thing we say is, if you're a starter on the punt team or the kickoff team or any of the core phases, you're a starter. There's 44 spots on the core four, and then you take away a kickoff guy, a snapper and a punter, that's 41 spots. That's 41 opportunities to start on this team. Our guys are super competitive in that, and it's been fun to watch.”
