There are aren’t many teams that we can realistically see winning the College Football Playoff in 2022. But one person’s role in college football could make them the sport’s most important person.
On Sunday, 247Sports analyst Brad Crawford did a feature on the “most important people in the 2022 playoff race.” Taking the top billing is Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles.
Crawford explained the first-year Buckeyes defensive coordinator was brought on for the precise task of stopping Michigan’s offense and keep them in the College Football Playoff race. He believes that makes Knowles “the singlemost important figure in the 2022 playoff race.”
Via 247Sports:
“Given Ohio State’s talent overflow offensively, if the Buckeyes get back to playing at an elite level defensively this season, Ryan Day could be in store for his first career national championship as a head coach. The Buckeyes were embarrassed up front by Michigan in the regular-season finale last fall and for the second straight campaign, finished ninth in the conference in total defense. What happened to the tenacity? Where’s the disruption? Why were there so many miscommunications and breakdowns? Former Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles was hired to fix all of that and he is the singlemost important figure in the 2022 playoff race, especially if you have a futures bet on Ohio State winning it all.”
Jim Knowles was hired by the Buckeyes after leading the Oklahoma State Cowboys to their first Big 12 Championship Game. The Cowboys had the No. 9 defense in the country as they went on to beat Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl.
Meanwhile, Ohio State’s only loss last year came against Michigan in The Game. They need their defense to be just one game better in 2022 to make it to the College Football Playoff.
Is Knowles the most important person in college football in 2022?