Ohio State sees immediate reactions from top recruiting targets after Ryan Day hires Matt Patricia as defensive coordinator

The Ohio State Buckeyes made a surprising hire for their vacant defensive coordinator role on Wednesday, bringing in Matt Patricia. Replacing Jim Knowles off a national championship-winning season won't be easy, but Ryan Day is betting on his program to get the most out of Patricia and his internal staff. 

Rolling the dice on Patricia is an interesting bet for Day. While Patricia has some major positives in his history as a multi-front schemer and his obvious experience alongside Bill Belichick in the NFL, his personality is a question mark in the recruiting-centric college football world. Patricia hasn't worked in college football in the last two decades.

That doesn't mean he can't succeed or that he'll even talk with many recruits. However, there was a surprising amount of excitement shared by Ohio State targets. On3 shared some of the best quotes from Ohio State's top defensive prospects.

Four-star Oradell (N.J.) Bergen Catholic defensive lineman Jermaine Kinsler: “It’s a great pick up.”

Four-star Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy defensive lineman Preston Carey: “Yes sir I love it! I was speaking with Coach Day and Coach Johnson this morning and we were having a great conversation! I love that they made that choice! I think Coach Patricia can really help bring the Ohio State defense to the next level!”

Four-star Cleveland (Ohio) Glenville linebacker Cincere Johnson: “Hiring him and promoting Tim Walton is huge. I like it.”

Three-star Lewis Center (Ohio) Olentangy safety Kaden Gebhardt: “Love it! Great hire for sure!”

Plus, there's this from former Ohio State legend Bobby Carpenter.