My heart still hurts as much as the next guy on this forum. 

But I am also trying to be pragmatic about where this Ohio State defense is at versus the current state of the defensive landscape across the sport. In summary, in my opinion, the current defense Jim Knowles is running isn't the answer. He either has to make MAJOR schematic changes, or we need to find someone who will.

Here's the basis of my point of view. There are two things a championship defense needs to do in this day in age:

1) Not give up the explosive plays over the top (something Ohio State has historically done, but most notably did against Notre Dame, Penn State, Michigan, and Georgia)

2) Keep redzone appearances to FG's, not touchdowns (we used to collectively refer to this as "bend but don't break" and have for some reason gotten away from it).

Regarding bend but don't break...in the last 23 college football playoff games (the best playing the best), 21 of the 23 games have been won by the team that either WINS or TIES their redzone touchdown percentage for the year.

If you think back to Ryan Day's losses to Clemson, Oregon, Michigan, Georgia, the offense not getting 6 has been a theme, and in many cases the reason that they didn't win. 

How does this relate to Jim Knowles? Well, Ohio State 2021 defense, which we can all agree was subpar, they gave up touchdowns in 81% of the redzone appearances. Jim Knowles best defensive year at Oklahoma State is widely considered that same 2021 defense...in which they gave up 88% touchdowns in redzone appearances. 

I can't go to a restaurant and tell Jeff Ruby how to make the best steak. But I can tell him when it is too well done. Jim Knowles defense is entirely too risky for the situations this football team is put in. And even if they do contain offenses to not beat us over the top, history says touchdowns in this scheme are inevitable once they get to the redzone. 

I'd love to see this defense get back to "bend but don't break." Keep everything in front, make open field tackles, and then bare down in the redzone. Even in recent Ohio State football losses, they've successfully put up a lot of yards. But in the end, yards don't matter, only the scoreboard does. 

I'm not sure sure Jim is the guy to get it done.