Jim Knowles sees Tackett Curtis as Buckeyes version of Malcolm Rodriguez
In his final months at Oklahoma State, Jim Knowles pinpointed Tackett Curtis as one of his primary linebacker targets and one of the high school prospects he most badly wanted to bring into the Cowboys’ program.
When Knowles took the job as Buckeyes defensive coordinator, the only thing that changed in that regard was his location. He still loves Curtis’ game, personality and how the 2023 four-star linebacker – ranked No. 4 at OLB and No. 41 overall in the class – would fit into his scheme at Ohio State.
That’s why Curtis was one of the first players who Knowles visited in January during the live recruiting period, flying down to Many High School in Louisiana to continue building their relationship. It picked up right where it left off when Knowles was with the Cowboys.
That continued this week when Curtis visited Ohio State for the first time for Tuesday’s opening of spring ball, and Knowles gave an even more thorough vision of how he sees the 6-foot-3, 220-pound athlete fitting into his defense.
At the core of that vision is utilizing Curtis in the same way that he used linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez, who was a first-team All-Big 12 honoree as part of the nation’s No. 3 overall defense last season.
“I got to sit down and talk to Coach Knowles for a while,” Curtis told Scarlet and Gray Report. “He made some film of a few plays of mine from last year and a few plays from Malcolm Rodriguez, one of their best linebackers, and he showed me how he wants to use me like Malcolm Rodriguez at Ohio State.
“He showed me the plays he was making and how the plays I made last year correlates into his defense and how he could use me to be a stud in his defense.”
Curtis’ visit to Columbus went as well as it could have. He found a great culture fit that he can see himself sliding into seamlessly, relationships with coaches and players that have him building more affinity for the program and, above all, a doubling down of the fact that he believes he is a great fit in Knowles’ defense.
That last part may be the most important. Knowles’ system might be the one that utilizes his skill set better than most.
Knowles broke down on Tuesday the fact that he wants his two core linebacker spots – the Mike and Will positions – to have similar skill sets and are each asked to do the same thing. Knowles wants those two players to be strong, aggressive and fundamental enough to play on the inside as a run stopper and fast, athletic and smart enough to play in space on the outside.
That’s what Curtis does so well at the high school level, and the Buckeyes believe that will translate at the next level – especially in their scheme.
“He wants to be the Mike linebacker,” Curtis said. “He wants to base the defense around me, and he said he’s got a bunch of different ways in his defense to set me up to make plays. That’s what he’s good at. He wants to put me on the edge and blitz me, he wants to put me on the outside and have me cover, and he wants to make me be a run-stopper and a force in the box.
“That’s what he’s really good at is setting up his guys to make plays, and that’s what he wants to do with me.”
Curtis is set for a busy rest of the spring as he takes more visits. He is visiting Miami today and has visits planned for Michigan State (either March 14 or March 18), USC (March 26) and Wisconsin (April 2).
Ohio State, Wisconsin and USC are the three schools Curtis is most likely to take official visits to in the summer. After he takes all of the official visits he wants to take, he plans on going into decision mode.
“I wanna be committed by the end of the summer,” Curtis said. “Unless I’m really torn between two schools, I wanna be committed before the start of my senior year.”