Jim Knowles explains the biggest surprise about Ohio State so far
Jim Knowles was hired by Ohio State head coach Ryan Day to come in and right the ship on the defensive side of the ball for the Buckeyes. As Knowles installs his scheme, he’s been pleasantly surprised by how engaged the players are in learning it.
How quickly the players have ultimately picked up the scheme has surprised Knowles the most, he said. After a down year in 2021, the Ohio State defenders seem hungry to right the ship, themselves.
“Like I’ve said from the beginning,” Knowles said, “What has surprised me the most was how quickly they pick things up. You know, I mean, I think that’s a change. They want to be great. They want to — I know some of them went through some tough times last year. They want to avenge that. They want to step up. They want to learn. I think that they all have visions of getting to the next level. And they want to learn. They want to pick your brain. And I think they’ve soaked it up. So that’s been surprising to me, how quickly they got that.”
Knowles coordinated one of the best defenses in the country a year ago at Oklahoma State. The Cowboys finished fifth in the country in total defense, surrendering just 297.9 yards per game in the Big 12. The Cowboys were also elite at getting to the quarterback, tying Alabama for the national lead with 57 as a team, and led the country with more than four a game.
Getting to the quarterback will be big for Ohio State in 2022
Ohio State wasn’t exactly bad in the sack department in 2021, tallying 37 as a team, good for a tie at 28th nationally. But at a program that churned out Joey Bosa, Nick Bosa and Chase Young, expectations are higher. However, the Buckeyes might have a pair of star defensive ends this year with Jack Sawyer and J.T. Tuimoloau leading the way.
The two finished No. 4 and No. 5 overall in the 2021 On3 Consensus rankings respectively, with Tuimoloau being a late addition to the class. Now, both have grown a year in the program and have Day excited for their potential. He said with the freshman season out of the way, both Sawyer and Tuimoloau are going to have great seasons for the Buckeyes.
“Both guys have had really good camps,” Day said. “They really practiced hard last year and for a lot of these younger guys who really had their senior years (high school) affected by COVID, you can see how important getting in here and getting all these reps are in college. And they really put it in last year. I mean, last year they played, they would go down to the scout team. They were just there and they’ve kind of carried that over into this year. Now, they’re a year stronger, a year bigger, more experienced, understand what’s going on. Been very impressed with both of those guys. Think they’re going to have great seasons.”