Even a few months later, it is still shocking that former Ohio State Buckeyes defensive coordinator Jim Knowles left for the Big Ten rival Penn State Nittany Lions right after winning a national title. This kind of stuff does not happen, but it most certainly did. It was a lead topic on False Start for Cody Williams and I on multiple occasions, as this chain of events left us both completely dumbstruck.
So when ESPN's Heather Dinich put out a long-form feature on what all transpired for Knowles to leave Columbus for Happy Valley, I had to dig in. There were three things that immediately caught my eye. The first is Knowles was the own who initiated the controversial move. The second was how shocked Penn State head coach James Franklin was that Knowles even reached out to him for it.
And as far as the third is concerned, Knowles apparently wanted an extension before the the national championship game. The timing of it all from Ohio State was wonky, so much so that Knowles was asked to not attend the championship parade. $3.1 million later, and he now works for James Franklin and alongside offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki in the Nittany Lions' quest of winning the playoff.
Franklin's comment on the matter further illustrates how crazy this all came together with Knowles.
"To be honest with you. I didn't know how serious it was, but it went pretty quickly from that point on."
Knowles attempted to remove himself from the equation, but in actuality, made it entirely about him.
"I did not want to put anyone, including myself, in a position to have to deal with it immediately following the national championship game. And that's the way it happened."
It was awkward for everyone involved, so Knowles looked out for his best interest and made moves.
"Season's over, everything coming to a head again quickly. Ohio State hasn't come forward with a deal, and it's like, OK, if I'm going to act on this or at least explore it, I have got to make the call."
And as far as the whole parade attendance debacle is concerned, that felt like the final straw to him.
"Maybe I'll take less because Ohio State's a great place, but then they asked me not to come to the parade. So then you're like, 'OK, honestly, the writing is on the wall.' Now it becomes something. It's always something on the outside world, but now it's become something here, too. I hadn't made any decisions, but you just kind of feel like -- I wouldn't say I'm not wanted here -- but you just feel like, OK, now it's gotten awkward."
Ohio State will host Penn State on Nov. 1 with almost certainly so much on the line for both programs.
Jim Knowles is the reason Jim Knowles no longer works for Ohio State
While Dinich's article provides some clarity on the matter, I cannot say that it paints Knowles in the best of light. He is a fantastic defensive coordinator, but I had a feeling he might be a bit of an opportunistic prior to reading this. All this did was confirm that notion. To be fair, many and most professional coaches are. Job security is not really something many of them have or will ever have.
If I do want to give Knowles some benefit of the doubt, I will offer this. Nobody thought last year's defensive coordinator Tom Allen was going to leave State College in a lateral move. Franklin hiring the former Indiana head coach was prudent, but short-lived. He left as soon as he good to go work for Dabo Swinney down at Clemson to replace the ineffective Wes Goodwin. The first domino had fallen.
We also must remember is how Ohio State was viewed entering the College Football Playoff. The Buckeyes were a 10-2 team with a pair of conference losses to Oregon and Michigan. The Ducks beat Penn State to win the Big Ten. Ohio State did have a big win over playoff-bound Indiana, but this was not a Jim Harbaugh-led Michigan team that beat them. Ohio State was the No. 8 seed for a reason.
This put a ton of pressure on head coach Ryan Day and starting quarterback Will Howard. Other members team faced pressure, but Knowles was most seen as safe, no matter what happened. From opening kickoff inside The Horseshoe vs. Tennessee, Ohio State started to look like the Ohio State team we all thought they could be. The Michigan loss awakened a buzzsaw nobody else could stop.
So I do get that things were tense and rather uncomfortable between Knowles and Ohio State. Pressure creates diamonds, but lesser stones often crack under it. For my money, Knowles had earned the right to be the highest paid defensive coordinator in college football. It is a shame that the timing of his big pay day resulted in him leaving the defending national champs for a conference rival.
That being said, I like Penn State's chances of winning it all more than Ohio State's next year, partially because the Nittany Lions have Knowles and Buckeyes no longer have him. The only other team I feel as strongly about right now is Allen's new team in Clemson. Then again, it does seem a bit ridiculous to think the national title bout down in Miami will be Clemson vs. Penn State over Ohio State vs. Texas.
Knowles made the most of his opportunity, but the grass is not always greener on the other side of it.