Ohio State football safety Caleb Downs on Jim Knowles' departure: 'It was sad to hear'

Ohio State football safety Caleb Downs on Jim Knowles’ departure: ‘It was sad to hear’

Posted by author January 28, 2025 Football

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Caleb Downs found out Jim Knowles was leaving Ohio State to become the defensive coordinator at Penn State last weekend when he received a text message.

“He told me before,” Downs said. “He hit me up about it. I respect him for being honest with us.”

During an autograph signing organized by one of the Buckeyes’ NIL collectives, he expressed no hard feelings about Knowles’ departure, which became official earlier Monday.

“I sent him a text message back, just telling him that I appreciate him,” Downs said. “I wish him the best.”

Downs was an integral part of the defensive success guided by Knowles that culminated with a win over Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff final last week, securing Ohio State’s first national championship in a decade.

As a unanimous All-American in his first season after transferring from Alabama, he finished with 82 tackles, a safety who showed his range moving to the line of scrimmage in run support and dropping in pass coverage.

The Buckeyes led the Football Bowl Subdivision in both scoring defense (12.9 points per game) and total defense (254.6 yards per game) in 2024.

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“It was sad to hear,” Downs said, “and he was a really good DC. He taught us a lot. He taught me a lot about football and how to call games. I learned a lot from him. So I appreciate him for that.”

Since Downs enrolled at Alabama as a freshman in 2023, he has experienced no shortage of coaching movement, most notably with the retirement of legendary coach Nick Saban last January.

But he has seen defensive coordinators change, too. Pete Golding left the Crimson Tide to run Mississippi’s defense only a week after he first arrived in Tuscaloosa. Saban then hired Kevin Steele away from Miami.

The replacement for Knowles will be Downs’ fourth defensive coordinator in three years in college.

“I learned different things from each of them,” Downs said. “It’s been a blessing.”

Downs did not voice any preference for Ohio State’s next defensive coordinator, giving deference to coach Ryan Day. Safeties coach Matt Guerrieri has experience as a co-defensive coordinator at Indiana in 2023 and Duke in 2018-21.

“Whoever coach Day hires, that’s who he hires,” Downs said. “I can’t really determine that or think about. That’s not my job. I’m sure they’re going to hire the right person and go from there.”

When Day interviewed candidates for a running backs coach last spring, a search that resulted in the hiring of Carlos Locklyn to replace Tony Alford, he included the backs in the process, though a coordinator is a weightier hire.

“If they ask for my input,” Downs said, “I’ll give my input.

For the time being, he and teammates on defense will move on without Knowles.

“It is what it is at the end of the day,” Downs said. “That’s the decision he made.”

Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @joeyrkaufman or email him at jkaufman@dispatch.com.