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Comfortability in Jim Knowles’ Defense, NFL and National Championship Goals Brought Former Oklahoma State Safety Tanner McCalister to Ohio State

When Tanner McCalister entered the transfer portal on Dec. 22, he did so with the hope that he’d get the opportunity to play at Ohio State.

It didn’t take long before he got a call from new Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, who was previously his defensive coordinator at Oklahoma State for the last four years.

“So entering the portal, obviously I hadn’t had any conversations with Coach Knowles, because I was still a player here at Oklahoma State,” McCalister said. “But as soon as I got in there, I got a call from Coach Knowles and he was basically like, ‘Man, let’s run it back.