It always happens in sports where teams who do well must continually rebuild staff. Alabama rarely went a year without one of Nick Saban’s assistant coaches being poached for lateral moves or promotions. After winning it all in 2014, Ohio State lost its offensive coordinator to be the head coach at Houston. Now, after winning the most recent national championship, Ryan Day has to log back into LinkedIn as Ohio State has to find a new defensive coordinator. After three years of leading some of the best defensive units in college football, Jim Knowles has returned to his home state and defected to a fellow Big Ten program, Penn State.
The Privilege of Winning: Ohio State Must Find a New DC
Knowles the Nittany Lion
Knowles led the Buckeye defense over the last three seasons and was well worth every penny. In 2021, the year before Knowles’ arrival, the defense let down the team a number of teams. It was ranked 38th in scoring, 97th in passing, 25th in rushing, and 59th in total defense. In 2022, the Buckeyes improved to 24th/26th/25th/14th, respectively. The 2023 season was an even bigger improvement with the unit finishing 2nd/1st/29th/3rd and 2024 was even better. In the championship season, the Buckeyes finished 1st/3rd/3rd/1st.
There is no denying Knowles’ influence on the defense. However, over the last year and a half, there was a shift. In 2022 Ohio State was prone to giving up explosive plays. This was evident in the losses to Michigan and Georgia. It got tightened up in time and this year. The Buckeyes were one of the best at preventing those chunk plays.
What Changed?
The departure has raised a few eyebrows, of course. Allegedly, Day asked Knowles to not attend the national championship celebration in Columbus on Sunday. Leaks and reporting from all kinds of varying levels of credibility have suggested Knowles’ relationship with the coaching staff – not just defensive line coach Larry Johnson – was strained. Reoprtedly, Knowles was the one reaching out to other programs following the national championship and would not return communication to the Ohio State staff despite attempts to give him a comparable contract to what he got from Penn State.
And, based on player reactions, this came as a bit of a shock. Some in the program are alleging that Knowles was telling players he would be back so the announcement/leak coming out while the team was at the Horseshoe celebrating the national championship has not gone over well.
After the Oregon loss, Day demanded Knowles change a few things and even took a bit more of an interest in the day-to-day operations. Perhaps that could explain the late-season explosion of the defensive line play.
We will not know the truth behind the scenes without the affected parties physically coming out and dispelling or confirming the suspicion. Regardless, if any of these allegations are true, it’s disappointing but it is what it is at this point. Knowles helped turn around an Ohio State defense that was atrocious and was the backbone of this year’s national championship run. Ohio State owes Knowles a debt of gratitude even if he may have fled as he did.
Now, the challenge is to find an appropriate replacement.
Internal Options
For as great as winning a national title is, Ohio State will have a late start on getting a replacement coordinator. At the same time, Ohio State is Ohio State and Day has done a good job of finding new coaches to this point in his career. The first place Day will look is from within.
Among all position coaches, two have defensive playcalling experience. Matt Guerrieri was brought on as the Buckeyes’ safeties coach before this year and was able to get a career year out of Lathan Ransom. He was co-defensive coordinator twice in his career, once with Duke and once with Indiana. At Duke, Guerrieri was co-defensive coordinator for three seasons. In the six years prior, Guerrieri was a Graduate Assistant and safeties coach under Knowles. If there is a concern about scheme consistency, Guerrieri may be the guy as a Knowles disciple.
It should also be noted that Day shouted out Guerrieri by name during the celebration. The popular safeties coach is, “one of the brightest minds in college football.”
The other candidate with experience is secondary coach, Tim Walton. If he can call a defense as well as he recruits corners and safeties, Ohio State will be fine. The Ohio State alumnus has all kinds of experience at multiple levels. As defensive coordinator, Walton called plays for Miami (FL) in 2007, Memphis in 2008, and the St. Louis Rams in 2013. The players have a wealth of respect for Walton, often calling him the OG.
Get the Best Fit
Fans have joked about the possibility of Nick Saban coming back to his old stomping grounds. Despite the fact that the Buckeyes have a history of pulling national championship-winning SEC coaches out of retirement after one season, this is a tad far-fetched, to say the least.
The hottest name with even a sliver of possibility is Jim Leonhard. The Wisconsin graduate coached up his alma mater for six seasons and was the interim head coach for the Badgers in 2022. Each year, Leonhard’s defense finished in the top third of scoring defense, peaking in 2021 with the fourth-best in the country. He’s a Big Ten guy and knows what the job entails. His defenses were respected and after his time in Wisconsin ended, he found his way into the NFL as the Denver Broncos‘ defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator. His Broncos secondary was one of the best at forcing turnovers.
Perhaps the Buckeyes could swing for the fences and bring back a familiar face. Jeff Hafley is the defensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers after a short stint leading Boston College. Could Day bring back one of the co-defensive coordinators he had in 2019?
All in all, Day has been faced with finding top-end replacements. He can be trusted to find the right person for the job. Whether that person is in-house or an outside hire, Ohio State’s defense should be just fine. Even despite having to replace nine starters in 2025.
Oh, and there’s a decent possibility the Buckeyes will have to replace Chip Kelly as well. As of now, however, he is set to coach the Ohio State offense in 2025.
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