Ohio State Football: Jim Knowles has the right attitude

The Ohio State football team brought in Jim Knowles to fix the defense after the defense cost the Buckeyes two games this past season. Knowles is coming in with the right mindset on how to approach the job and knows exactly what Ryan Day brought him in to do.

Knowles mentioned in his press conference this week that he “doesn’t have four years” to fix the defense. He knows that he has to come up with results almost immediately. He’s up for the challenge though. Truth be told, he wouldn’t have taken the job if he wasn’t.

A whole new staff of coaches around Knowles makes it even more challenging to get those results quickly. The Buckeyes have the players on the roster to have a better defense, at least according to their recruiting rankings the last few years. The talent isn’t the issue.

I really like that Knowles is ready to tackle this challenge head-on and make tough decisions right away. He knows that fixing the problem is the key to this team contending for a national championship. Ohio State has the offense to be that contender right now.

With the Spring Game being played in early April this year, we only have about 2 months until we get the first look at the new defense. I really would like to know who Knowles thinks his best guys are, especially in the back seven. I’d be surprised if Ohio State doesn’t improve right away on defense.

Knowles may have the right attitude, but only time will tell if he has the right philosophy. We’ll see how this team is able to hold up on defense. His old team, Oklahoma State, didn’t fare too well against Notre Dame in the first half of their bowl game. Notre Dame visits the Ohio State football team in the first week of the season.