COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A year ago, Brian Knorr made more than $365,000 as Indiana's defensive coordinator and spent a week trying to figure out how to slow down the Ohio State offense.

This year, Knorr is making $500 per month as a quality control coach for Ohio State and might have a few tips for the Buckeyes as they take on the Hoosiers on Saturday.

This is another bonus for the moneyed powerhouses of college football, the ability to hire veteran coaches into roles originally designed for young coaches on the way up. Coaches without jobs looking to stay in the game will take those assignments to tread water for a year or two, learn the secrets of a successful program, and wait for the next big chance.

It's kind of like the swag bags at the Oscars -- free stuff for the rich.

Places like Ohio State and Alabama, which pioneered the practice a few years ago, get some veteran minds game-planning and breaking down film. Former USC head coach Steve Sarkisian was hired by Alabama as an "analyst" in September, just the latest big name to take a low-level job to get near to Nick Saban.

Knorr and former Browns assistant and University of Kentucky head Joker Phillips were the two veteran quality control assistant additions to the Ohio State staff this year.

"It's very unique to have that kind of experience to help you," Meyer told cleveland.com in July soon after the hires were announced.

He said the duties for Knorr and Phillips would focus on scouting the Buckeyes themselves, which is difficult during the season, and getting a week ahead on opponent scouting. NCAA rules are supposed to limit the coaches who can coach during practice to the nine full-timers and four grad assistants.

That leaves the rest of the staffers in the film room.

Vince Okruch and Bill Busch filled the roles for the Buckeyes in 2015 and both wound up following former OSU assistant Chris Ash to Rutgers when Ash became the head coach there.

Busch was Wisconsin's safeties coach in 2013-14 but wasn't retained by new coach Paul Chryst for 2015. He made $500 a month last year under the title "Football Analysis Assistant," and now is one of Ash's nine full-time assistants as the Rutgers defensive backs coach.

Okruch was a full-time assistant at Minnesota, Northwestern, Colorado, Illinois and Akron, among other stops, before joining Ohio State for the 2014-15 seasons. He made $24,000 a year under the title 'Kicking Quality Control/Recruiting Assistant." He is now a full-time Rutgers assistant as the special teams coach.

In their absences, the Buckeyes hired even more qualified film watchers by landing two former college head coaches.

Phillips went 13-24 as Kentucky's head coach from 2010-12. He previously served as an assistant at Kentucky, Cincinnati, Minnesota, Notre Dame, South Carolina and Florida. And last year, he was the Browns receivers coach under Mike Pettine, but he wasn't kept around by Hue Jackson.

From Browns assistant to Ohio State film watcher in a year.

The human resources letter welcoming Phillips to Ohio State that was provided to cleveland.com after a request for his contract tells Phillips he is "poised for a bright and exciting future."

He's a 53-year-old man with nearly 30 years experience as a coach. He's making $35,000 this season.

Knorr was 11-35 as Ohio's head coach from 2001-04, then served as an assistant at Air Force, Wake Forest and Indiana after he was fired. He was let go by the Hoosiers after Indiana allowed the most points and yards in the Big Ten last year.

He's now making $500 per month with the title "Quality Control - Kicking" under a "part-time/temporary/specials appointment" as described by his HR letter.

Knorr and Phillips have been around for months, but Ohio State filled our request for their contracts last week, which is why we waited to write this. The question was exactly how much it cost to get Knorr and Phillips into the film room.

The answer for Knorr is 1.6 percent of what he made a year ago.

The Indiana defense, now in the middle of the pack in the Big Ten after holding Michigan State to 21 points in a 24-21 upset win last week, has improved without Knorr.

And the Buckeyes have a coach with 25 years experience watching film.