The Ohio State Buckeyes just claimed the College Football Playoff national championship, powered by the nation’s most dominant defense, which ranked No. 1 in both total defense and scoring defense. Despite that dominance, it appears the Buckeyes are set to lose the mastermind behind that defense to a Big Ten rival.
According to Toby Rowland of News9/NewsOn6, Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles has informed Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin that he will leave Ohio State and take on the role of defensive coordinator at Penn State.
“Reliable sources confirm that barring last second change of heart, Jim Knowles is headed to Penn State. He has notified James Franklin that he’ll accept their offer of well over $3 million to be highest paid coordinator in college football history. Knowles is from Philly,” Rowland said in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Knowles, who joined the Buckeyes ahead of the 2022 season, has guided Ohio State’s defense for the past three years, establishing it as the most dominant and reliable unit in the country.
It’s unclear why Knowles has opted to leave Ohio State despite his remarkable success. Reports indicate that Ohio State offered him a contract extension that would make him the highest-paid defensive coordinator in college football.
Notably, Knowles was absent when Ohio State celebrated its national championship victory at Ohio Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Needless to say, this is pretty horrible news for Ohio State and it led to a lot of reactions from the college football world.
“Working under James Franklin is….a choice,” one person wrote on X.
“Ryan Day went a grand total of 6 days before pissing off fans. Losing Knowles over Day’s mismanagement of Larry Johnson would be insane,” another person added.
“Would be a significant loss for Ohio State and if they didn’t match that salary, what are they doing,” someone else said.
“My apologies to the Penn State fans for assuming this idea was ludicrous,” another person wrote.
“Going to your school’s second biggest rival after winning the natty,” someone else said.
“Jim Knowles will never beat Ohio state,” another person added.
We’ll have to see how Ohio State replaces Knowles.
