Ryan Day assesses how Jim Knowles has improved Ohio State defense

The goal at Ohio State is to win a national championship, something Ryan Day has not yet been able to do. In fact, the Buckeyes were not even College Football Playoff participants last season, falling short and settling for a Rose Bowl appearance instead. But one crucial coaching change has been made, hoping to take the program to the next level.

Day made a switch at defensive coordinator, bringing Jim Knowles in from Oklahoma State. Consistently one of the top units in college football while in Stillwater, Knowles will hopefully bring the same results with him to Ohio State. However, Day knows the 2022 defense is going to look a little bit different, causing a switch-up.

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Changes on a yearly basis, based on teams and personnel, is something Day called “the sign of a good college football coach.” He compared it to his own experiences on the offensive end, going through some top-level quarterbacks. Overall, he’s happy with the progress Knowles is making with the defense.

“They’re playing with great confidence, they’re playing with great energy,” Ryan Day said. “I think what Jim’s done a really good job of is — you have your whole offense or your whole defense but then you figure out what areas fit the guys that you have. This is a different group than you had at the previous stop and previous years. I think he’s recognized some things that maybe he had a little bit differently at Oklahoma State than he has here.

“He’s tailored the scheme to that, which is great. It’s a challenge on offense. I don’t know what percentage he has in. I’d probably say it’s mostly in but where do you spend the majority of your focus? It’s just like on offense. When we had JT (Barrett), it was a lot different than Justin (Fields). And Justin a lot different than CJ (Stroud) and Dwayne (Haskins). That’s the sign of a good college football coach.”

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Ohio State is returning some of the top defensive talent in the country, particularly on the defensive line. However, the unit as a whole will need to improve to make sure last season’s failures do not occur again. Knowles will be a huge part of that, especially as the linebackers coach as well.

Ryan Day is impressed with the progress Knowles is making as a whole, with kickoff just under two weeks away.