Ohio State Defensive Coordinator Jim Knowles "Locked In" Ahead Of Notre Dame

"The expectations are high and the players expect you to be their leader and be locked in. That’s what I’m going to do.”

Although he has more than 35 years of coaching experience, new Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles has never been involved in a regular season game as big as Saturday’s opener against Notre Dame.

As a matter of fact, few people have, as it’s just the third time in program history the Buckeyes are opening the year against a top-five team. But whether it’s the opponent, the stage or the expectations surrounding his unit, Knowles isn’t going to let that faze him.

“I’m going to stay focused and in a locked-in mindset and do my job,” Knowles said during his media availability on Tuesday afternoon. “That’s what the players need.”

Knowles has acknowledged on numerous occasions the expectations are much higher at Ohio State than his previous stops, including Duke and Oklahoma State. So while the job remains the same, he doesn’t have time to reflect on how far he’s come in the profession.

“It’s the same process, (but) the expectation are different. That hasn’t changed what I do or how I do it, you just know it’s there,” Knowles said. “I’ll think about all the nice parts about it when I get old and I can sit back and relax a little bit. But right now, the expectations are high and the players expect you to be their leader and be locked in. That’s what I’m going to do.”

While much of the focus since Knowles arrived in Columbus eight months ago has been on installing his complex defensive scheme, he noted on Tuesday it was just as much about building a championship mindset among the players as it was about the Xs and Os.

“You’re building a mindset of excellence,” Knowles said. “This is how we do it and this is how we’re going to it every day. We’re going to do it on the grass in practice and that’s how the game’s going to go. It’s really about expectations. Once the players know that you care, they’ll go through the wall for you, and I believe we’re at that point.”

With that, Knowles isn’t necessarily worried about how much of the scheme has been installed thus far. The only thing that matters to him is whether or not his players are ready when the ball is teed up on Saturday night.

“We’re 100 percent ready to go,” Knowles said. “We’ve put them through the crucible. We go against the nation’s best offense every day, and we’ve pushed and prodded and poked and tried to stretch them as far as they can go.”

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