The Duke Blue Devils have hired their man and it’s not Ohio State defensive coordinator, Jim Knowles. News surfaced last week that Knowles and the administrators at Duke had discussions about its head football coaching position, and for good reason. Knowles has a previous history with the program and has made a significant name for himself because of his defensive pedigree.
However, Knowles wasn’t the other candidate, and the Blue Devils announced the hiring (subscription may be required) of Penn State defensive coordinator, Manny Diaz, instead, thus ending the chances of Knowles moving on from the program for a better opportunity — at least for now.
Knowles was brought in by OSU head coach Ryan Day to stop the bleeding of a Buckeyes’ defense that had sprung far too many leaks over a couple year time, especially when it came to big plays. He made a name for himself retooling the Oklahoma State defense and the hope was that he could do the same in Columbus.
So far, so good, as the defense has progressed over the last two years, showing improvement in 2022 and then again in 2023. Knowles has shown a willingness and ability to not be stuck in his ways and make subtle changes necessary to improve based on the league and personnel.
Duke football hires Penn State DC Manny Diaz over Ohio State's Jim Knowles https://t.co/cq23nNDmzi
— Columbus Dispatch (@DispatchAlerts) December 8, 2023
Keeping Knowles as the architect of the defense is a win for Ohio State. One of the things that can really derail keeping the program at a high level and continuing to move forward is losing high-priority coaches. Knowles definitely fits that bill and hopefully we’ll see continued improvement with that side of the ball with him still running the show.
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