Ohio State Buckeyes hire Jim Knowles as defensive coordinator

Ohio State has hired Jim Knowles as their next defensive coordinator according to Matt Zenitz of On3. The Buckeyes have hired the Broyles Award finalist away from the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

Knowles will be replacing Kerry Coombs, who has been with the Ohio State Buckeye program for the past two seasons. His defenses have not lived up to expectations for head coach Ryan Day after poaching him away from the NFL and the Tennessee Titans.

Ohio State will now turn to somebody with more experience at the college level. Knowles is a Cornell graduate who has made stops at his alma mater, Duke, Ole Miss, Western Michigan, and most recently Oklahoma State.

Since taking over in 2018, the Cowboys’ defenses have steadily improved. During his first season in charge, they gave up an average of 32.5 points per game. This season, Knowles’ unit has the best scoring defense in the Big 12 at 16.8 points per game and nearly got them a conference championship.

Former Duke head coach David Cutcliffe has long been a believer in Knowles, working with him at Ole Miss and Duke. With the SEC program, he served as the linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator. Cutcliffe hired Knowles as the Blue Devils’ defensive coordinator in 2010. His defense took the program to their first bowl game in 18 years during the 2012 season.

Letterman Row has reported Knowles was a candidate for the open Penn State defensive coordinator job as well as Oklahoma State looking to give him a raise to remain in Stillwater. Ultimately, Ohio State won out for one of the most sought-after assistant coaching names on the market.

Ohio State season comes to an end after Michigan lost

Day has said multiple times as Ohio State’s head coach the most important thing to the program is beating Michigan. Their decade-long streak of beating the Wolverines came to an end on Nov. 27, dropping the game by double digits.

Ohio State’s defense was a major factor in both losses to Michigan and Oregon earlier in the season. The Buckeyes gave up 566 combined rushing yards in the two losses. Throughout the season, the secondary, where Coombs is also the defensive back coach, finished in the bottom three of the Big Ten.

After missing out on the College Football Playoff, Ohio State will face off against the Utah Utes in the Rose Bowl. It marks the program’s second appearance in the Grandaddy of them all over the past four seasons.