COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State, the first team to run the gauntlet of four playoff games on its way to the national title, celebrated with 30,000 Buckeyes fans on Sunday at Ohio Stadium.
The Buckeyes did so without their defensive coordinator, Jim Knowles, in attendance. On a day when coach Ryan Day lauded Knowles at the podium as "the defensive coordinator of the best defense in the country that was completely dominant in the playoff," Knowles, sources told ESPN's Pete Thamel, was finalizing a deal to join Penn State in the same capacity.
Indeed, the celebration marked a time of change within the program.