Jim Knowles spent his second press conference as Ohio State's defensive coordinator last week coming off as impressive of a football mind as he did in his first one.

From the infrastructure of his safety-driven defense to showering individual players like Kourt Williams and Ronnie Hickman with praise, Knowles shuffled through about 25 minutes of interesting, often impassioned details about his coaching style and insightful background into what makes him tick, from his beliefs on tackling and his philosophy on the types of players he wants in his linebackers room.

In short, Knowles plans to run a 4-2-5 front as his base defense with the two linebacker spots – Mike and Will – to have identical skillsets: to be able to clog rushing lanes as a run stopper and have the speed and athleticism to be able to play on the outside in space.

“There's not much difference between our two linebacker positions,” Knowles said. “They really need to be able to play in the box, and then space on the edge in the box. In space, blitz and cover. So we're really looking for complete versatility out of those positions."

But he sees a defense that can grow, giving a glimpse into what his linebackers and hybrid players can becomes as the Buckeyes begin to embrace his aggressive system.

The versatility he wants from certain positions and finding the right guys to fill hybrid spots is going to be critical for his defense to work like it has in his previous stops.

“If I find a guy who is more of just an internal [defensive] tackle, the tackle guy I can adjust things to make sure he's in that position. But right now, I want to put the guys in as many different positions as possible to see what they're good at. So I can build things around what we have here.”

Here's what Knowles wants from his base 4-2-5 front, from left to right:

Defensive line: Rush end, defensive tackle, nose guard, defensive end

Linebacker: Mike, Will

Safety: Bandit, Adjustor, Nickel

Cornerbacks

Knowles will strategize differently and ask different tasks from those players than previous regimes, but the monikers are analogous to previous iterations of the Buckeyes’ defense under Ryan Day.

The “rush end” is what Ohio State has traditionally had in that left side/weakside defensive end spot. Knowles will eventually replace that spot with a role called the LEO – a hybrid defensive end/outside linebacker.

Knowles said that the Buckeyes haven’t begun implementing the LEO spot in the defense yet. They are only two practices into spring ball, so Knowles is keeping things simplified for now as his unit goes through the overall learning process and as he evaluates the best players for that spot.

There are a handful of candidates to fill it like Jack Sawyer – the No. 1 player who appears best suited for the role – Zach Harrison, Javontae Jean-Baptiste, Cade Stover and freshmen Caden Curry and Gabe Powers down the road.

Steele Chambers fits perfectly as one of Knowles’ linebackers, and Tommy Eichenberg, Cody Simon and C.J. Hicks seem to be the others best suited there.

The three safety labels are similar to what Ohio State has had in the past. The bandit is akin to the Bullet and serves as the boundary safety – one who can line up deep and also drop down into the box as more of a linebacker. The adjustor – same as the free safety role that Josh Proctor filled – is labeled as such because he is the center fielder of the defense and has to “adjust to the formation,” Knowles said. And the nickel will be the same slot cornerback/safety hybrid that Marcus Williamson and Lathan Ransom played.

Though he’s recovering from a leg injury, Ransom would fit well as a nickel. But Tanner McCalister and Cameron Martinez are glove fits at that spot while Proctor is the lead candidate as the adjustor if he returns to full strength after his own leg injury.

That’s where we come to Hickman and Williams for the bandit. Knowles was adamant that he envisions “them both playing together.”

In those looks, perhaps Hickman would serve as the adjustor and Williams as the bandit. Either way, their versatility allows for Knowles to have a pair of valuable chess pieces.

Williams is the most intriguing of all the defensive players in terms of role and ceiling in this defense.

The third-year Buckeye earned heaps of praise from the coaching staff heading into his freshman season for his work ethic and what he brought to the defense: a role expected to be the Bullet as a boundary safety who could come down into the box as a linebacker.

When Williams tore his ACL just before the 2020 campaign, that wiped away what would have likely been important contributions in his first year. He showed signs in 2021 that he could produce, and now he looks poised for a big season.

If he does break out, much of it will be the product of a perfect football marriage between Williams and Knowles. This system seems perfectly tailored to Williams’ skill set, and he seems perfectly tailored for what Knowles wants from his bandit.

“From what I saw from Kourt from last year [were his] his leadership skills,” Knowles said. “This is a safety-driven defense, it really is. He's been playing a lot at our boundary safety position. We feel like he can get into the run fits there when we want to, we feel that he's a guy who’s a leader. Just off the field, when I watched him in the weight room and work, he's a worker, he's a leader. So I like him. I like him with more depth and vision to be able to see the ball and to control movements in the secondary.”

From that linebacker standpoint, we have already seen Knowles and the Buckeyes lay down the groundwork for the future of that position on the recruiting trail. That’s exemplified with recent examples:

-Their recent offer to Cleveland Glenville linebacker Arvell Reese, who Knowles believes can play both the Mike and Will spots.

-A prioritizing of Louisiana’s Tackett Curtis that has Ohio State at the forefront of America’s No. 4-ranked outside linebacker, who Knowles believes he can turn into the Buckeyes’ version of first-team All-Big 12 Oklahoma State star linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez.

-A likely impending offer for Tennessee four-star Caleb Herring, a monster of a 6-foot-6, 210-pounder who is being recruited by Knowles and the Buckeyes for the LEO.

The philosophy of bringing in is clearly and obviously here to stay for the future of this defensive unit.

Now, we get to see how it plays out in the near future in year one of the Knowles regime.