STILLWATER – This has been a topic that’s been talked about since Jim Knowles arrived on campus in 2018. It was talked about throughout the season last year, as well as throughout the spring and even at Big 12 Media Days: is/was there an adjustment period that Knowles went through as a first-year Big 12 Defensive Coordinator?

“Yeah, absolutely,” Knowles said about an adjustment period during his first year. “I said before, it's not that I didn't know what goes on in the Big 12. It's a lot like being a parent…until you actually do it, and that's the way it is with being a defense coordinator here. Offensive coordinators, head coaches, they're trying to score on every single play. You don't see that in other conferences and you got to be able to handle that on defense. Your guys have to be able to play as if every single play is a game. And that's a mentality and approach that I've been pushing and trying to instill.

“So, we're going to continue to be aggressive in our coverage and in our package, I mean we were fifth last year in the country in sacks. And [being] aggressive and getting after the quarterback and playing a defense that recruits want to see, that fans want to see. But it's my job to make sure that I continue to tweak it and continue to change things up enough to fit actually what happens in the Big 12 and some of the things that we need to get better at.”

As we enter fall camp of year two, I don’t think that there’s any doubt that the defense will be more prepared to be able to handle anything Knowles throws at them. The returning players have had a year and a half with coach Knowles and the freshmen that have been on campus since January and June have only learned one system why at Oklahoma State: Jim Knowles’

One of the major causes for concern last season was all the penalties the defense accrued. I know that this is a team stat, but the Pokes ranked 96 in the country as they averaged 6.8 penalties per game last season and 97 in the country with 97 total penalties.

“We need to do a better job of knowing exactly what to do,” said coach Knowles. “There were mistakes made that I need to own, certainly, and that we need to get better at. We need to do a better job of pushing our players to play the game more disciplined. Too many penalties, you know the jumping offsides, the facemasks, you know some of the targeting fouls and things that happened, those are all in our control. We can control that. So, we can become a better team just by fixing that before we even get into talking about personnel or scheme or anything. There are certainly enough areas to work on and correct as coach [Gundy] said in terms of our discipline, toughness and focus.”

Is another year under their belts with coach Knowles a guaranteed fix to limiting penalties? No, but having a solid veteran group at corner, safety and linebacker certainly helps. There’s still a cause for concern with depth on the front seven, but with enough experienced players sprinkled throughout, you should see a decrease in yellow flags on the field.