COLUMBUS, Ohio — To Tanner McCalister, Jim Knowles is many things.

He’s a mad scientist of defensive scheme, a fixer, an “offensive coordinator of the defense” with the intent of forcing opposing offenses to respond to what his defenses are doing, something that's usually counter to how most defenses are run

But to McCalister, when he first met Knowles at Oklahoma State ahead of the 2018 season, his first impression of his defensive coordinator was his mind, his smarts.

“Sometimes, he tries to explain things to us and we not kind of on his level as far as his intelligence,” McCalister said. “So I’m like, ‘Man, can you dumb it down for me?’”

In four years, McCalister began to learn how to translate Knowles. He began to take control of the defensive backfield, leading the fixing for a defense that allowed 32.4 points per game and 437.1 yards per game in their first year together to 16.8 points per game and 273.6 yards per game this past season.

And when it came time to choose either the NFL or another year of college football, McCalister saw a chance to help Knowles lead another defense that needed fixing, entering the transfer portal and choosing to follow his former defensive coordinator to Ohio State.

“When Coach Knowles got the job and I entered the portal, he was one of the first ones to call,” McCalister said. “He let me know that he wanted me to come. I kind of let him know that that’s what I was thinking about.”

Knowles didn’t think he would get another chance to run it back with McCalister.

Ohio State’s new defensive coordinator thought the Oklahoma State safety was off to the NFL, pointing to his versatility in the defensive backfield playing nickel and covering the slot, while facing some extremely tough assignments and knowing he would be a great professional someday.

While McCalister versatility and play style is great, what Knowles needed was someone who knew him, could speak his language and could translate him as he planned to flip Ohio State’s defense on its head in 2022.

“He’s been with me. We have been through the wars together. He understands me. He can talk to other guys if I get loud,” Knowles said. “I can be aggressive when I coach, and he can talk to other guys and he can talk about my style to them. But he can also explain the defense to them in a way that coaches can’t or someone my age can’t. He has them out now on his own just going through different things and kind of preparing them for what I am going to do, so he will be invaluable.”

It’s something Kye Stokes took advantage of immediately.

From the moment the 2022 safety joined Ohio State as an early enrollee, he started to meet with McCalister, getting coached up, learning minor tweaks and skills to best prepare for what’s coming from Knowles in the coming weeks and months.

“Every time we go in and put in some work, I ask him a question or two: ‘How does Coach Knowles run this? How do you do this or this defense?’” Stokes said. “He has no problem breaking it down to me and sharing his knowledge of what he knows in terms of Coach Knowles’ defense.”

It’s what he did with Oklahoma State.

Now the fifth-year safety is being asked to head up the smooth transition in the defensive backfield, building good relationships and answering questions about what is coming for the Buckeyes on that side of the ball.

To him, much of it has to do with versatility, using different body types to create different styles of play. McCalister said Knowles likes players who can do different things because it matches the different things opposing offenses try to throw at a defense.

And as he was in the portal, the safety watched film of Ohio State’s defense, looking to see if that potential was there, that capability of versatility was there.

McCalister said he saw great pieces for Knowles to work with.

"I wasn’t here, so I don’t know why the defense wasn’t as successful as it wanted to be, but the players, I don’t think that was the problem. They have good athletes, really good players,” he said.

“I think Coach Knowles, what he is planning on doing, he’s going to evaluate what he has here, evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the players that he has here and see where he can best use them. That’s kind of what he did when we were at Oklahoma State, and I’m sure that’s what he’s going to do here.”

With the pieces Knowles has to utilize, McCalister expects to see the mad scientist at work, creating an aggressive defense, a game plan that makes him the “offensive coordinator on defense,” forcing opposing offenses to react to what they do.

In his final year of collegiate eligibility, he’s going to help make sure the entire Ohio State defense can speak Knowles before his time is done.

“We’re going to have fun in the back end,” McCalister said. “I think he just likes to cause confusion and he does a good job with that, causing confusion for the quarterback. I think you guys are going to see an aggressive defense, so I am looking forward to that.”