Jim Knowles had no relationship with Ryan Day when he came calling in December. Not even a passing one.
All the Oklahoma State defensive coordinator knew about the Buckeye head coach was his “great reputation in the business.” That and the Ohio State brand itself were more than enough for Knowles, a 35-year vet of collegiate coaching, to jump at the opportunity to hold a post at the highest level of the sport.
Now a full five months into his tenure as Ohio State’s defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, nothing about Day or the program has been a disappointment for Knowles. In fact, he’s still beaming about landing the position in the first place.
“I tell the recruits, ‘Look, it took you 16 years to get here, it took me 56 years to get here. So let's go be great together.’”– Jim Knowles
“It's been great. I mean, Coach Day is really level-headed, first-class quality program,” Knowles said in May. “Everything we do is just first class, everything we do is the best in the business and he's a football guy. So he enjoys talking football. We can bounce concepts off each other and that's fun. Because that's why we're (coaches). One of the things we love as coaches is to talk football. Coach Day is great at that.
“He just runs just a highly disciplined, high-functioning organization. It's efficient, there's efficiency in everything we do. He's strong on relationships with the players. So I think that's always in the forefront. That's the way it should be. In college, that's what we're here to do is develop young men, but I've been impressed with everything that he's done and put in place.”
Even if Knowles and Day weren’t initially all that familiar with one another, the pair built their relationship over a gauntlet of Zoom conversations while Day thoroughly vetted what is likely his most important hire to date. Through that process, Knowles found he had quite a few similarities with the Ohio State head coach.
Both football junkies, their obsession for the X’s and O’s of the game goes beyond other coaches around the country, Knowles said.
“He and I are a lot alike like that, in that way. I don't think everybody's like that. … I think some people are just consumed with it,” Knowles said. “Other people are not, you know, they can turn it off.”
Given his last two stops were at Oklahoma State and Duke, it’s no secret Knowles hasn’t been asked to recruit the type of top-end talent the Ohio State program routinely signs each year.
Day even referenced that fact on a recent radio appearance on 97.1 The Fan, as he described the new set of challenges for Knowles and the other three new assistant coaches on the Buckeye staff: Tim Walton, Perry Eliano and Justin Frye.
“Guys, when they come in new, they're drinking through a fire hose and then they go right on the road recruiting. So there’s a lot and Ohio State’s different than all the places that these guys have been,” Day said last week. “But they’re all very intelligent, very bright. I think we have a very, very good staff. And I think it gives us a chance to play our best football as we head to September.”
But things haven’t exactly slowed down in that department since Knowles arrived in Columbus. The Philadelphia native enjoys the cache that comes along with the Block O on the recruiting trail, and it should allow him to have success in ways that were never quite possible at previous stages of his career.
“There is a special pride for me to now be at a school like Ohio State. … When (Buckeye coaches) show up you'd be like, 'Hey step aside, Ohio State's here.' Guys you know you can joke (with), but we all know it's true,” Knowles said. “When you were sitting there at the lower level, you're like, ‘Look at that guy from Ohio State, he just gets right in.’ So now I get to wear it. Like I tell the recruits, ‘Look, it took you 16 years to get here, it took me 56 years to get here. So let's go be great together.’ But it's definitely a lot of fun.
“The reputation of Ohio State and Coach Day and Coach Mick and everything that's been built here, that reputation automatically puts you – you're able to deal with any recruit that you want. The best in the country. And they’re responsive because they know that Ohio State is going to help them accomplish their goals. So yeah, it's an entree to anyone.”
Knowles got the most out of the talent he had to work with in Stillwater last season, as the Cowboys finished top 10 in the nation in scoring, rushing and total defense in 2021. With the Buckeyes, Knowles will have upgrades across the board in terms of pure talent.
Four- and five-star performers didn’t help the Buckeyes become a top national group defensively a year ago. But if Knowles can get them to reach their full potential, a stark turnaround may quickly come to fruition.
“Coming to Ohio State, you’re saying, ‘Hey, I want to be able to work this system with the best players in the country.’ And then my job is to make them better,” Knowles said. “From wherever they start, my job is to help them grow to be the best they can. I thought we did that (at Oklahoma State) … now at Ohio State, you can get the guys with the best metrics, the best measurables, and you can do the same thing and grow them.”
There’s no guarantee of success for Knowles in his first season. But surrounded by the resources, infrastructure and leadership of the Ohio State program, Knowles will be expected to make a difference in the Buckeyes’ quest to reach their ultimate goals in 2022.
