“I use the word ‘Gretzky’ all the time,” Ohio State’s defensive coordinator said. “You’ve probably heard me say it, but I’m going to keep saying it because (someone would ask), ‘Hey, Wayne Gretzky, why are you such a great goal scorer?’”
In an often-repeated story, the hockey hall of famer is said to have answered, “It’s because I didn’t go where the puck was. I went where it was going to be.”
That helped him score a record 894 goals and set up another 1,963 during 20 seasons in the NHL, and it’s a concept Knowles saw in only some of his regulars last season.
The best example was Tommy Eichenberg, who went from after-thought to All-American at linebacker last season in Knowles’ defense, something the coordinator attributed to his understanding the scheme beyond just absorbing his own duties.
Yes, the Cleveland native understood his job, but he also got the concept of each call and what it meant when it came in.
“So Tommy figured it out a little more quickly than maybe some other guys that if I made this call, and they ran this play, the ball was going to end up over here,” Knowles said. “So that’s how you play fast. So when you get 11 guys, you can do that, and that’s how you get better.”
Eichenberg led Ohio State with 120 tackles, almost 50 more than anyone else on the team.
He also had 12 tackles for loss, a big number for a middle linebacker and again the best on the team.
Knowles hopes to see that wealth spread out more evenly this fall in his second season at Ohio State, and the Buckeyes’ taking another step toward being a strong, reliable defense likely depends on it.
“There’s the opportunity to be the best, in my mind,” Knowles said. “There’s the opportunity to be the best. To make across the board improvements from what was already an improved defense, but the expectation to be a top five defense that everyone can count on all the time. And that’s there.”
He attributed that faith to seeing the talent of the players on hand as well as the coaching history of men like defensive line mentor Larry Johnson and director of strength and conditioning Mickey Marotti.
Knowles also liked what he saw of the secondary during spring practice after another down season.
“Nothing counts until you get to the game, right?” Knowles said. “But when you see guys just get your hands on more balls, just challenge routes.”
He knows no one is interested in the result of practice, and games — especially the big ones — will tell the story of how much Ohio State accomplished in the offseason, but that does not mean the Buckeyes can’t get better between now and the season-opener.
“I went through this at Oklahoma State. I do believe it’s real,” Knowles said. “When you play and practice against a high-powered offense with great receivers and quarterback, first-round picks, you get beat in practice, but that can’t be OK. Doesn’t matter who you’re going against, that can’t be OK. And that’s how our own iron on the offense has to sharpen our defensive iron. We needed to make that transition because this is how we’re going to be the best: We have to be the best against our offense every day. We’re gonna go against our offense, what, how many times? And then an opponent 15 times. So we need to be great against our offense, and that’s been my message and preaching is it’s not OK. Even though our offense is great, it can never be OK for us to get beat.”
He estimated he was about 75% of the way toward having everything in place defensively last season but did not specify any other players who made the leap to Gretzky status along with Eichenberg.
Star defensive end J.T. Tuimoloau, who had 10.5 tackles for loss last season, provides another big building block.
Another handful of players are returning starters, including linebacker Steele Chambers, safety Lathan Ransom and cornerback Denzel Burke, who could make major progress after a season on the field in Knowles’ scheme.
“You want everyone on the defense to know what everyone else does,” Knowles said. “You want everyone to know where the ball is going to end up.
“When I when I make a call, based on the play the offense runs, the ball is gonna go here. I mean, that’s as simple as it gets. It looks more complicated, but if you know because every defense has a hole or an escape hatch in it, so that’s how they get better.”
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