The news that Ohio State football fans were hoping would never come unfortunately did on Sunday. That's right, defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, who just helped Ryan Day and the Buckeyes win the national championship, is on his way out of town.
Knowles is leaving Columbus to take the defensive coordinator job at Penn State. According to multiple reports, Knowles will be taking home more than $3 million per season to lead James Franklin's defense, making history as the highest-paid coordinator in college football history.
Sure, that's great news for Knowles from a financial standpoint, but he could not have left this program on worse terms. Knowles was a no-show for the team's celebration on Sunday, with the news breaking right as everyone was honoring what this group was able to get done.
Not only that, but according to team insider Jeremy Birmingham, Knowles pretty much ghosted Day and Co. despite the team making him a huge offer to stay in town. Not showing up for the parade on Sunday made things worse too:
Hearing Birm say Ohio State didn't know if Jim Knowles was going to show up to the parade or what. He stopped communicating with them even though they made him a huge offer. At least have enough decency to communicate and, at minimum tell those kids.
— JBook. (@JBook_37) January 26, 2025
Jim Knowles pretty much ghosted Ohio State before leaving for the Penn State job
It's one thing to leave the Buckeyes to join a hated conference rival, but to do it like this? Ohio State fans are dunking all over Knowles for this and understandably so. This is supposed to be a moment that everyone in Buckeyes country should be smiling about, as the team went on an epic run to stun so many people to capture the natty.
Instead, everyone is now talking about Knowles bolting for Penn State. Couldn't this news have waited a day or two? Couldn't Knowles have sat down with his defense and let them know that he was going to be making a life-changing decision?
In the end, Knowles did what he felt was best for him, but closing the Ohio State chapter could have been handled way differently, and way better. People all over Ohio will always be grateful for him helping the program win the CFP crown this year, but now he's going to become an enemy while donning Penn State gear.