Chris
Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles is widely believed to be Brent Venables’ target to fill the same position at Oklahoma.
There’s only one little problem slowing down Venables’ pursuit: Knowles has one more game to coach for the Buckeyes, as they’ll play Notre Dame in the national championship on Monday night.
On Saturday, Knowles and the rest of the title game combatants participated in the College Football Playoff media day, where Knowles was asked directly about Oklahoma’s reported interest in him.
“Beat Notre Dame; that’s all I’m focused on,” Knowles said. “These things happen, I guess, when you have success. Players are making plays; my job is to put them in the best position. These things come up when you do well.”
Knowles, who took the Ohio State job three years ago after a four-year stopover at Oklahoma State, has assembled one of college football’s most feared defenses in Columbus. The Buckeyes lead the nation in scoring defense (12.2 points per game) and total defense (251.1 yards per game).
In Stillwater, Knowles took the Cowboys’ defense from 113th overall his first year to 82nd to 44th to No. 5 nationally in total defense. In scoring, OSU went from 97th to 61st to 34th to No. 9 nationally in points allowed.
Meanwhile, the Sooners are looking for a new DC for the second year in a row after Venables protégée Zac Alley replaced Ted Roof last winter only to leave for the defensive coordinator post at West Virginia.
Another potential roadblock for Venables: Knowles, 59, currently makes $2.2 million a year to the Buckeyes’ defense, and would likely be in line for a big raise if he stays in Columbus. Alley was paid $850,000 last year and was in line to get $900,000 in 2025, with a raise also expected after he helped breathe life into a moribund OU defense in 2024.
Published 6 Hours Ago
John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER
John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national “Beat Writer of the Year” from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma’s “Best Sports Column” from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two “Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting” Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.
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