If new Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles didn’t know what the requirements are as part of the Buckeyes’ coaching staff, former head coach Urban Meyer let him know during a recent run-in.
Knowles appeared on current OSU head coach Ryan Day’s radio show on 97.1 The Fan on Wednesday and was asked how long it took for the rivalry with the Michigan Wolverines to come up in their initial conversations. While Knowles, who left Oklahoma State for the Ohio State job, said that those early conversations were more informal, he noted that “the team up north, that all came up later.”
However, when Meyer was visiting the OSU facilities this past weekend, the topic was the first and only thing to come up during their interaction.
“I was sitting in my office Sunday and coach Meyer happened to be walking through the facility,” Knowles said. “I looked up and he’s like, ‘Hey, Jim.’ I said, ‘Coach, how are you?’ I hadn’t met him.”
“You better beat that team up north,” Knowles said Meyer told him. “And then he left.”
In spite of everything that went wrong with the Jacksonville Jaguars, if there’s anything Urban Meyer knows how to do well, it’s defeating the Michigan Wolverines. He was 7-0 against Michigan during his time with the Buckeyes, though the school’s win-streak against their hated rival was snapped this past season.
Knowles will get his first chance to make good on that demand when the Buckeyes and Wolverines meet on November 26.
