Ohio State Football: Jim Knowles’ recruiting so far

The Ohio State football program needed a change on the defensive side of the ball. The last two years had seen the defense stoop to a level that they hadn’t been in a long time. That side of the ball kept the Buckeyes from winning a national title in 2020.

Ryan Day decided to make some changes for the better. His biggest change came when he hired Jim Knowles as the new defensive coordinator. He came over from Oklahoma State after taking a defense that was one of the worst in the Big 12 and making it a top-five defense last year.

Knowles can coach the Xs and O’s, that much is not debated. But what about his recruiting? He did a lot at Oklahoma State with less talent than he has access to here with the Buckeyes. What has his ability been recruiting so far with Ohio State in the short time he’s been here?

If you look at the 2023 recruiting class so far, it’s been a mixed bag. Knowles is the linebacker’s coach as well and the Buckeyes don’t have a single linebacker for this class. They just lost their top linebacker recruit for the class as well after he decided to go to USC.

The defensive line is getting recruited well by Larry Johnson as always and they are making some progress in the secondary as well. Knowles helps out on those recruitments too, but his main responsibility is with the linebackers. So far he hasn’t done much there.

I don’t expect this to stay the way it is. The recruiting of linebackers and the rest of the defensive players will get better as the summer goes on. Some good defensive performances over the course of the season will help the recruiting numbers too.

Knowles was a great hire and I expect him to do great things with the Ohio State football program.