January 27, 2025
Columbus, Ohio – The light versus dark beard division that defined Jim Knowles’ time in Columbus as defensive coordinator of the Ohio State Buckeyes came to a head finally this weekend, leading to the DC’s departure to B1G rival Penn State. One anonymous Ohio State staffer talked with CFB News Now on deep background about the facial hair schism.
“These guys never saw eye-to-eye on which direction to take their facial hair,” our source said via RingCentral remote teleconference on Monday afternoon. “That dispute lead to an inconsistent and largely competing visual presentation on the sidelines. Ryan’s the head honcho, so that black beard was all most people ever saw, but there was always that set of white whiskers, calling blitzes and stalking the sidelines not far behind.”
“And look, sometimes clashing styles can work. With the season we just had, clearly they were both mature enough to make it work on the field, but we all had a sense early on that this would ultimately be the duo’s undoing. It’s one of those situations where you hate to be right,” the staffer said.
So who had the superior stubble? And should we expect to see a “black out” this fall? The staffer said that was still up in the air.
“Look, it’s no secret: that beard is the source of Coach Day’s power. That’s why he takes such great care of it. That thing isn’t going ANYWHERE,” our source said.
And as for Knowles? The entire Ohio State staff wishes him well.
“With that ghostly goatee, Jim’s going to fit right in during those ‘white out’ games in State College,” our source concluded with a wink.