Ohio State's 2024 Defense: The Coverage Foundation

When most coaches think about college-level defense, names like Saban, Aranda, and Smart immediately come to mind. And with those names, one of the first words that usually follows is complicated—match coverage, creepers, and a thousand auto-checks. These elite defenses that compete for national championships often feel inaccessible to the average coach. Their systems can seem hopelessly intricate and convoluted.

Jim Knowles' 2024 Ohio State defense breaks that mold.

It strikes a rare balance: doing just enough to be elite without overcomplicating things to the point of slowing down elite talent.

Ohio State’s 2024 defense sent eight players to the NFL Draft, and the three starters who returned—along with many people’s consensus #1 player, Caleb Downs—are expected to join them next year. But this dominant unit wasn’t always so airtight. In Knowles’ first season, the Buckeyes ranked 22nd in scoring defense and gave up 40+ points in each of their final two games.

So, what changed in Year 3 under Knowles? That question is what makes Ohio State’s 2024 defense so valuable to study—and so accessible to coaches.

Start with the Coverage Matrix

Coverage generally dictates everything else a defense can do—pressures and run fits. So let’s begin there. (Shoutout to Cody Alexander for the matrix graphic.)

One number jumps off the page: Cover 1 was used on 28% of snaps. But if we isolate standard coverages (removing pressures and Knowles' trademark 3-high looks), the picture gets even clearer:

Coverage Usage Without Pressure and 3-High:

• Quarters: 32%

• Cover 1: 28%

• Tampa: 18%

• Cover 3: 11%

Knowles used some form of man coverage (Cover 1 or Quarters) on about 60% of snaps. That makes sense—every one of their starting DBs is NFL-bound, including perhaps the best safety prospect of the century. While most coaches know Cover 1, Knowles didn’t stop there—he layered his man coverage looks with multiple tools and disguises.

Cover 1 Show Clip

Layering Cover 1

Take the basic Cover 1. Even when it was obvious (Ohio State wasn’t trying to hide it—showing Cover 1 pre-snap on ~70% of those plays), it still created problems for offenses.

City/Key: One variation was Cover 1 “City/Key,” where both safeties read the tight end post-snap. If the TE comes to me, he’s mine; if he releases away, I take the post. This is a common "flex setting" rule, but give the defense a nice wrinkle to play off of the TE.

Rob: Another wrinkle was Cover 1 “Rob,” where Caleb Downs dropped into the second level as the "Rat," freeing him to read crossers, fit the run, or make plays downhill. A linebacker would now handle #2 or #3 in coverage. This unlocked Downs’ versatility in a big way.

Picket Fence: Knowles also brought in a 3-high variation often referred to as the “Picket Fence” or “Sticks” alignment. All five DBs would line up across mostly the same depth pre-snap, then rotate into their roles post-snap. This is a nightmare for a quarterback’s eyes—disguising MOFO/MOFC looks and post-snap movement.

Cover 1 City/Key Clip

Cover 1 Rob Clip

Fence Cover 1 Clip

Beating Cover 1

Of course, offensive coordinators know the blueprint for attacking Cover 1: stacks, bunches, motion. Knowles carried multiple answers for these "variations" an offense would give.

• Rock-and-roll safeties

• Second-level bumps

• Glue-and-travel man assignments

These small adjustments made it harder for offenses to gain leverage or create coverage busts.

Introducing 3-High Tampa

Knowles also understood the downside of leaning too heavily on man and match principles. His answer? The 3-high Tampa package.

Now, this isn’t a post about the intricacies of 3-high—but let’s be honest: when most coaches hear "3-high," they think complicated. For Knowles and Ohio State, though, it became a model of simplicity with enough complexity to stay elite.

Out of their base 4-2-5, Ohio State would often show an "even box" or 4-2 structure. By rotating into a 3-high look, they could morph into an "odd box" or 4-3 structure—with Caleb Downs stepping into a middle linebacker role from 8 yards deep.

This created two key advantages:

1. Downs becomes the focal point of both the run and pass defense.

2. The offensive line must now account for a deep linebacker with unpredictable timing and angles.

3 High Tampa Clip

Solving the Run Fit Problem

One of the biggest challenges in 3-high or light-box defenses is the run fit. Coaches can fall into the rabbit hole of exotic solutions: Jimmy/Pony, TGOG, read stunts, odd-front adjustments—you name it.

Knowles, again, kept it simple.

Pinch. Instead of 2-gapping or complex OL reads, the defensive line pinches into their interior gaps to create chaos and spill runs to the overhangs. It’s straightforward and effective. (Yes, there’s more nuance to the stunt—but the core principle is simple.)

On top of still being able to successfully fit the run from a light box, Ohio States 3 High "4-3" look balanced their man heavy coverage foundation, opting to play mostly spot drop Tampa (85% of 3 High snaps).

Takeaways for Coaches

Of course, Ohio State ran more than just Cover 1, Quarters, and Tampa. But this trio formed the backbone of their scheme—and it’s a model any coach can learn from.

Especially if you’ve ever coached a really talented team, you know the feeling: that constant fear of overcomplicating things and doing too much. It’s like driving a racecar—hold on tight, keep the wheel steady, and avoid crashing into the wall. Watching Ohio State in 2024 feels exactly like that.

Except Jim Knowles knew exactly what buttons to push to maximize his defenses' talent, while adding in enough layers and wrinkles to keep offenses off balance.

Build a foundation that highlights your personnel with man coverage. Add answers to the foundation to adapt to offenses variations. Then incorporate zone and pre-snap disguises to complete the picture.