STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- On Jan. 22, two days after the 2024 season had officially ended with Ohio State beating Notre Dame to win the College Football Playoff national championship, Penn State coach James Franklin was in Philadelphia recruiting. His cell phone rang.
It was 5:06 a.m. Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles was calling about Penn State's open DC job.
"To be honest with you," Franklin said, "I didn't know how serious it was, but it went pretty quickly from that point on."
Franklin hasn't claimed many wins over Ohio State, a program that is 12-1 against the Nittany Lions since 2012, but luring Knowles away from Columbus -- not to mention a handful of other blue-blooded programs -- was a big one.