Jim Knowles has Buckeyes already excited to unleash 'edgy' defense

COLUMBUS — The Jim Knowles defensive adjustment for Ohio State football ultimately will be judged by the results of the 2022 season.

But one sure gains the idea that if Ryan Day were a defensive coordinator, the 4-2-5 Knowles is teaching is the same defense Day would run.

As the buckeyes head coach watched Knowles and the defensive assistants install one aspect after another through the spring, and as he has watched workouts through the summer, he has become more convinced he made the right moves with the overhauls he made to staff and scheme following a fitful last season.

What he has seen more than anything else is aggression. Like on some particular plays in the spring, he saw an attacking unit that brought him at least a mental smile, since Day, being the leader of the Ohio State offense, could not show overt glee.

“The ones that (stood out), offhand, were just a just a bunch of guys running to the ball blowing up a play in the backfield, with about 10 guys jumping up and down all over each other, with great passion, great energy, great confidence, talking,” Day said last week during Big Ten media days. 

“That’s what you want, guys playing tough with great pad level, knocking the heck out of people. That’s what defensive football should look like. We saw some of that this spring. I think our defense has been edgy, and that’s the way it should be.”

With those words, Day might as well have been speaking the deacons of the Ohio State defense, as sophomore defensive end Jack Sawyer says on the Tim May Podcast this week.

“The defense now, we’re going after guys,” Sawyer said. “We’re playing offense on defense. I think that’s the key. I think last year we kind of let the offense dictate what we did on defense. You can’t play like that. 

“I think the best way to play football is going right at your opponent, so why not do that on the defensive side of the ball. … I look forward to putting into practice in fall camp and then laying it on Notre Dame, too.” Sawyer said.

That’s not really bulletin board material, since optimism is the watch word at this point in the process, just like it is at Notre Dame as the teams head into preseason camp this week. The key will be execution in prime time on Sept. 3, when preparation and anticipation collide with opportunity for the Buckeyes to roll out the new scheme for all to see.

The season goal for the Ohio State defense is a return to nationally elite status. That was something it last enjoyed in 2019, the first year of the Day era and the only year under coordinator Jeff Hafley before he was named Boston College head coach at season’s end.

“We want to be a top five defense. That’s one of our goals,” Ohio State fourth-year safety Ronnie Hickman said. “We talk about it every day going into meetings.”

Those meetings are as vital as the practices. Knowles brought the scheme –  it features three safeties on the field most of the time along with an end such as Sawyer who can rush from any gap on the line or drop into coverage, depending on the call – with him from Oklahoma State, which was among the nation’s elite defenses last season.

“What stood out to me about coach Knowles (from the start) is how aggressive he wants to play, and how serious he takes it, too,” Sawyer said. “How serious he takes the scheming, and how serious he takes practice and meetings, and everything else before we get on the field. I think that’s really key as well.”

At the heart of it is creating an aggressive mindset for all.

“What’s really changed is this year, with our scheme, there’s no thinking, Sawyer said. “You go on and play fast. If you’re going to make a mistake, make it at 100 miles per hour. That’s going to be all right.”

Asked whether there is a little bit of genius involved with the design, Hickman wasn’t quite ready to go that far.

“I can’t put the genius cap on anybody yet,” Hickman said. “That’s a big cap. so we’ll see. But coach Knowles definitely knows what he’s talking about. I think we all know that. 

“So we’re excited to see what this defense looks like in September.”

Count Day in that group. With the changes he made, sacking three members of the defensive staff in favor of bringing in Knowles, former NFL assistant coach and Ohio State alumnus Tim Walton to coach the cornerbacks and Cincinnati assistant Perry Eliano to coach the safeties, he sought an immediate remedy for the Buckeyes.

Day credited Knowles with the process used in introducing and installing the scheme, especially in the spring drills, and Knowles credited the hungry nature of the Ohio State players.

“He mentioned to me he was very impressed with the amount our guys could handle, not just the athletic part but the learning it,” Day said. He added, “I give our defensive players a lot of credit, they’ve really put a lot of extra work in.

“I see those guys diving in and trying to watch as must film as possible. I mean, they are really into it. And that’s a big part of it as well.

The secret to the Knowles plan, including the teaching of it at Ohio State, is “It’s pretty efficient, it makes sense,” Day said. “It’s a system, not just a bunch of defenses. 

“And I think that’s what gives him a lot of flexibility and allows him to adapt to what’s going on in a game. … If somebody’s beating him with a certain play, he can adapt to it and get that play stopped, because he has the tools in his toolbox.”

Again, aggression is the key, and as Knowles has said, building doubt as a game goes on not just for the opposing quarterback but also for the offensive coordinator. Day, considered to be one of the great offensive minds in the current college game, likes that.

“If you’ve created confusion (for the offense) post-snap then you’ve done a good job on defense,” Day said. “Whether that’s (for the) quarterback or the offensive line identifying the blitzes in the run game, that’s good football.

“Now, if you do too much of it and you’re not playing with great technique and they can identify what you’re doing, you can get rocked off the ball. What I like right now is we’re changing up the looks, we’re moving, we’re creating confusion … but we’re also playing with great technique and great velocity.”

Call it great velocity coupled with a great philosophy.

“That’s how we want to play football.”