Ohio State has its replacement for outgoing defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, and it's a familiar face for NFL fans.

Ohio State won last year's national championship against Notre Dame in the first year of the expanded College Football Playoff, Knowles' final game as defensive coordinator. Zain Bando is a freelance writer for The Sporting News. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism.

Ohio State is finalizing a deal to hire former NFL coach Matt Patricia as its new defensive coordinator, ESPN reports. The Buckeyes had been searching for a replacement after Jim Knowles departed for the same role at Penn State.