With some context, the statement makes plenty of sense.
Knowles was hired two years ago with a simple task: Make the Ohio State defense great again.
The subsequent seasons were a roller-coaster as the Buckeyes showed clear progress in many areas but also suffered key breakdowns, often at the worst possible time.
In 2022, many of those slip-ups were pinned on Knowles, who was burned multiple times with aggressive play calls against Michigan and Georgia, the team’s two loses.
He admitted to trying too hard to win the play with his call then, but there were signs last year he might have overcorrected.
While the defense took another step forward last season, finishing No. 2 in points allowed and third in yards allowed, it came in just below championship level.
The Buckeyes again started 11-0 before losing their last two games, and again Knowles’ strategy came into question.
In a 30-24 loss at Michigan, Ohio State avoided the disastrous explosive plays that let the Wolverines run away with a 45-27 win the prior season, but Michigan did enough consistent damage to scratch out the points it needed to continue a national championship run.
The Wolverines scored 16 points in the second half but perhaps more importantly did not punt, limiting the chances for the Ohio State offense to find a rhythm.
Michigan answered Ohio State’s game-tying touchdown drive in the third quarter with a tidy seven-play, 75-yard touchdown march of its own then tacked on two field goals with drives that bled four and seven minutes off the clock in the fourth quarter.
Unlike the previous year, the defense kept the Buckeyes in the 2023 game, but the offense got the ball back down six with only a minute go to and ultimately couldn’t come through.
A month later, the Buckeyes dominated Missouri’s offense for much of the Cotton Bowl before the Tigers broke through with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter of a 14-3 victory.
Missouri quarterback Brady Cook struggled for most of the game before finding with Theo Wease for 31 yards to key the scoring drive that put the game out of reach.
Those results left a sour taste in the mouth of Ohio State fans and the coaching staff alike, but Knowles is looking forward to seeing what he can do with a group that is mostly well-versed in his scheme.
“It’s definitely an upper level course, and I think there’s just more confidence that guys are going to be able to make the adjustments themselves,” he said. “Obviously, I put a lot of pressure on myself to be right all the time, but I’m not. So when you get different things that happen or formations that happen in the course of the game, you can expect that those guys will be able to fix it on the field.”
Getting out of defenses that could be vulnerable to a certain offensive look is one thing, but Knowles’ stated goal has always been to do more than that.
He wants to be an attacking defense, to take the fight to the offense rather than be forced to react all game.
That requires a certain balancing act, though, to avoid taking too many chances while also not dying by 1,000 cuts.
“Sometimes you reach those points where I don’t want to be the one to mess them up,” Knowles said. “It’s not about what I know or being creative. When we’re going good, I think that’s the balance. Let’s just keep it going, but if you stay in anything too long or become predictable, it really doesn’t matter who you’re playing. They’re going to take some kind of (advantage) like Missouri did running this guy all the way across the other hash if they really can predict what kind of coverage you’re in.
“Even when things are going good, we still need to take some chances.”
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