Jim Knowles discusses Cody Simon receiving the Block O, substitution plans for Week 1

[Music] you know I would say the ability to to play Fast um because when when you know what to do you know it allows you to play faster um on field on field adjustments you know that they can that they can make because they understand the defense um but really just want to see guys playing fast because they know what to do that's that's critical right behind him Stephen Kik cleveland.com last week uh Cody Simon was talking about what it meant to him to you get the blockco and said that it had been a goal for him for a while uh could you tell pretty early on and getting to know him that you know he was a guy that had the opportunity to mean more for this team than necessarily x's and OES yes conscientious um Team guy right do do whatever it takes no ego involved you know for my first two years here he kind of did a little bit of everything he's just somebody that you could count on all the time and always putting always putting the team first you know it's just it's the kind of guy we all want to represent us cuz it really means something to him front R right Austin Ward the podcast Jim you've mentioned throughout the month like safety depth and having you know some attention on that I asked Ryan about maybe wanting to play younger guys and build that depth for the course of the year if you're talking about that position specifically and you know what you have in Caleb and L Caleb and laan do you think you're more willing to put Malik out there or J mlan out there in key situations than you might have been previously or what would be your philosophy on that you know key situations you want your best guys so I think when you have a clear divide between the first group and the next group you're going to have your best guys and there're in a key situation I mean you're going to you're going to look to continue to build that next group because anything can happen in this game and they may be in there in key situations but at least initially until they get their feet wet you're going to have your best you're going to have your best guys in there what about maybe I shouldn't have said ke what about like 14 to nothing in the second quarter I know it's a hypothetical yeah it's yeah you know um I would say no you still you you're playing your you're playing your ones Joy Coffman Columbus Dispatch Kim two years ago you were recruiting Caleb DS and he ultimately picks another school goes to Alabama what were your emotions like this year when he sort of had a second chance and and he decides to come here and and all the potential that he brings and and the impact he had it's probably going to be more common in the support moving forward but just to go through it for somebody of his caliber what was that like well you you know you you take the emotions out of it so when you say my emotions you take the emotions out of it it's it's um I just knew we had to be on point I guess that's you know really it becomes uh you know you look to recruit someone like that who understands the game the way he does it's it's like a job interview you know it's like game day so it's not you my job is to not be that Rah R guy and uh all the beautiful things about Ohio State you know my job is to explain the defense in detail so that he understands that I'm going to be able to coach him and make him better you know on the field and with the scheme so it's a it's a lot more analytical a lot more analytical we been with Columbus Dispatch Jim Ohio State's traditionally played a marquee nonconference opponent um another Dame obviously the last couple years um you don't have that this year and is there any kind of concern that you might not be challenged the way that you would need to be challenged uh before you get in the me of the schedule I mean how do you kind of feel about you don't overlook any opponent I get that but we also are realists um how do you kind of approach it you know I I I approach it the same you're right that is that's not something that falls under my um biley Wick it's a ivy leak term yeah right belly I yeah so like yeah can't be concerned with that you know we're looking at our play on the field and and um I'll challenge them you know I make sure that I personally challenge them no matter who the opponent is Stephen means.com kind of following what Aus was asking you but applying it to linebacker a little bit I think in the past years you've talked and vocalized the need to put Cody Simon out there more when you had steel when you had Tommy and and maybe just run out of snaps at some point but you were talking about with the safeties maybe there is a clear divide between the starters and the backups is does that still apply to will with sunny and CJ and if not what would you ideally like to see what that split looks like between those two guys in that spot yeah I no it doesn't apply to CJ right so that's when you get into like okay we have uh CJ you know who when I think about things I think about okay is there a clear delineation one and two but not with CJ I mean just like Cody was I consider CJ um a one so you know you you could see you could see the combination there you know you could see Sunny playing Mike and CJ playing will and Cody taking a rest you know or you could see CJ at will and and sunny taking arrest so I I think all three of those guys are considered ones and should should play equally you and I'm not saying this happens on Saturday but like has he shown you he can handle that yes oh yes Sunny's Sunny is extremely coachable he's one of those guys you can tell things to one time and he get and he and he gets it so we have some versatility there Tony gin bu uh mentioned recruiting Caleb is like a game day were you an aggressive play caller that day was it was it B to don't break no yeah we you know we packed up the laptop um you know very I I really like likened it to uh when I interviewed at Oklahoma State and um I think coach Gundy brought in 10 guys you know brought you into a room grilled you for three hours didn't see the campus shut the laptop left find find out whether you get the job or not that's what it was like Caleb pack up your laptop head to Georgia get in the house 3 hours on the tape pack up the laptop and hope he did a good job right next door Pat Murphy 247 Sports I asked Ryan about just kind of the excitement coming off of the way last season ended um your defense obviously played well to end that season but they've talked about how they felt like there were stops they could have made in those final two games how much do you sense the the opportunity that they feel to go out and kind of reestablish themselves as as that dominant group once again yeah you they get it I mean you have to prove yourself every week and yeah there were okay maybe statistically we played okay but we didn't we didn't win every game you know and you know they they are determined that if we have to win the game three nothing you know could have won the bowl game three nothing I mean that that's on that's on those guys and I and and and they get it you know every every week you go out there is like you're delivering your thesis you know you have to prove yourself on that day and I think they they understand that challenge and they they want the fans the media the rest of the team to be able to know when they when they go on the field that they can be counted on no matter what the situation no matter what the score uh Dan hope 11 Warriors Jim Cody was saying last week that you know you guys think you know offenses are going to try to do some tricky stuff with the helmet communication so how do you guys kind of prepare for the fact that you know offenses may get into formations late mhm you know I think you uh when you when you teach now um you have to prepare your players and and your onfield play callers and adj and adjusters that um you know I I won't I won't necessarily be able to make all the right calls for you so you know it starts a long time ago with the the teaching you know like could be that you're going to have to make a lot of on field adjustments yourself so you better know the defense final two questions Bill Landis Kings of the north Jim uh we talked with mcari and some of the saf think last week and Matt and a couple of the players said they're less focused on like band and adjuster and kind of just do both and maybe just focus more on just kind of like playing safety um is that like an intentional switch that you wanted to make this year is that just natural progression of the defense where guys kind of I don't even know cross training might not be the right word if it's positions are so similar but no we cross training is a cross training is a good word you know um when you when you get to the game that's there are times you may have to do that but not necessarily go into a game that way but when you're training safety it's good to train them in everything you know because somebody goes down you need to make an adjustment you know so I think it's a great thing to do in the in the spring in the fall camp but you know as you get the game week it it becomes more defined is that you talked about wanting to disguise things a little bit better does does having guys be kind of multi-positional on the back end help you with that yes yes because that you know they understand the coverages and uh you know if you want to change coverage one way that they get it because they've done it on the other side and final questions Jeremy Birmingham uh the podcast Jim I'm not an expert on your career trajectory but just like cursory glance it shows that year three has been generally the best year statistically for your defenses in the stops you've made how confident are you that that's going to be the case now considering that there's not far to go from where you were last year but what is the biggest difference difference for you as a as the play caller this year and just for the overall mindset of the defense for last year you know you always take the tools that you work with and it's the job of the coaches to get the best out of what you have now you know maybe that year three is because yeah you get the guys couple years in the system and now you're and now you're working with veterans you know so here at Ohio State we're working with veterans who are also extremely talented so you know you have to expect the best and and uh Chase Perfection it's just what we got to do