Ryan Day updates installation of Jim Knowles defense at Ohio State

Ryan Day has made plenty of changes to his Ohio State coaching staff during the offseason. While multiple coaches left the program, a handful of new faces were also brought in to fill the various positions – and the Buckeyes appear to have a strong group of coaches heading into the 2022 season.

Among the many hires that Day has made, one of the head coach’s most recognized decisions includes bringing in Jim Knowles from Oklahoma State to serve as Ohio State’s defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. Knowles spent four seasons as the defensive coordinator at Oklahoma State and had an 11-year run at Duke prior to his time with the Cowboys – in addition to being the head coach at Cornell from 2004-2009.

With Ohio State currently going through spring practices, the Buckeyes’ defensive unit is getting accustomed to Knowles’ system – and Day said that it’s been going well so far.

“It’s mostly been about the four-down stuff early on and just installing the base defense the first week,” Day said. “Now, as we get into practice three, four and five, that’s when we’ve got to start diving into that. I think our base stuff is four-down – and that’s where we’re going to start and where we’ve started. But that package is something at Oklahoma State and Duke that’s been pretty dynamic, and I’m excited to see where it goes.

“We’re not there quite yet, but it’s coming fast.”

Day reveals what Jim Knowles official title means, explains hire

Following Ohio State’s first spring practice a couple of weeks ago, Ryan Day met with the media and was asked about the addition of Jim Knowles to his coaching staff and what role the coach will play for the Buckeyes.

“It’s more than just the philosophy of, ‘OK, you are in charge of everybody over there,'” Day said of Knowles’ role. “He’s kind of got an army over there. He’s got his coaches, he’s got the GAs, he’s got the interns, he’s got the quality control guys – he’s got a whole group of guys over there. When this thing’s running well, the defensive coordinator is the coach of that group.

“He’s great. He’s been a head coach, he’s done this before, he doesn’t need a whole lot of direction. But he also understands that we have a culture here in place and a lot of pride in what we’ve done around here, so I think he’s jumped right in and bought into that – and at the same time taking this thing and running. He can see why he’s had success. He’s very organized, a very good communicator and has a very good scheme.”