Jim Knowles did what he was hired to do when the Ohio State football team brought him in during the 2022 season. He transformed a defense that was lackluster into the number one defense in all of college football last year, culminating in a national championship.
Knowles left last offseason to head to Penn State, where things aren't going quite as well. Matt Patricia has taken over for the Ohio State Buckeyes and coached the defense to be even better. They are only allowing five points per game and lead in most statistical categories.
Patricia has been a godsend to the Buckeyes, and all of his players love him. In fact, linebacker Payton Pierce talked about his relationship with Patricia on Wednesday night, revealing he's already talked with Patricia more in just one day than he did with Knowles for an entire year.
Ohio State linebacker reveals how impersonal a coach Jim Knowles was with the Buckeyes
While talking to reporters after practice on Wednesday night, Pierce talked about how much better a relationship he already has with Patricia than he ever did with Knowles.
"I got to know him pretty well (in the offseason),” Pierce said of Patricia. “It was a lot different than the previous defensive coordinator. I talked to Patricia more probably his first two days here than I did with our old defensive coordinator my whole time being here."
It's pretty wild that Knowles wouldn't speak to Pierce as much. Perhaps he didn't want to waste his time with people who were going to be backups in his system. Still, it seems wildly impersonal for a defensive coordinator to not speak to the players that he's trying to teach his system to.
Patricia has made sure that he has talked to all of his players so they understand exactly what he needs from them, whether they are starters or not. It's why all of the defensive players have bought into his system so quickly and given him so much respect and praise so far.
Perhaps one of the reasons Penn State has given up 72 points in its last two games is that Knowles hasn't done a good job of getting to know his players and hasn't clearly communicated his expectations. Maybe that's also why Ohio State has yet to give up double-digits in a single game.
No matter what the case is, the Buckeyes are playing like the best defense in the country.