When the Penn State Nittany Lions poached Jim Knowles from Ohio State to be their defensive coordinator, barely two days after the Buckeyes won the national championship, the move shook the college football world. Knowles had molded the Buckeyes into the most dominant defense in the country and the move from the national champions to a Big Ten rival was unexpected. After the Oklahoma State Cowboys fired coach Mike Gundy on Tuesday, On3 analyst Pete Nakos linked Knowles to the vacant Big 12 job despite the defensive coordinator only arriving in Happy Valley in January. Knowles was the Cowboys' defensive coordinator under Gundy between 2018 and 2021 before leaving for Columbus. College football fans on X had mixed reactions to Jim Knowles being linked to the vacant OSU job to replace the fiery Mike Gundy."Wait until he loses to Oregon," one fan tweeted."My sources tell me he’s been interviewing and will accept the position prior to Saturday’s contest with The Mighty Ducks of Oregon,' another fan tweeted."No one from OSU will take that seriously," one fan tweeted.Some fans were skeptical of Knowles working out as a head coach."I don’t think he’ll make a great HC…he’s a good DC but being the CEO, having to recruit and manage NIL discussions is probably outside of his pay grade," one fan tweeted."Some people just wouldn't make good head coaches...I truly believe he is one of them,' another fan tweeted."I doubt it,' one fan tweeted.Why Jim Knowles left Ohio StateJim Knowles joined Ohio State coach Ryan Day's Buckeyes staff after spending three years on Mike Gundy's Oklahoma State staff. Last season, the Buckeyes' defense was ranked No. 1 in yards allowed per game (255), red zone touchdown percentage (42%), points allowed per game (12.9) and yards allowed per play (4.2) as they romped to the national championship. During an interview with ESPN in May, Knowles revealed that he left Ohio State because he was not offered a contract before the Buckeyes' national championship game against the Fighting Irish and was not invited to the parade. “I went to Ohio State to have great talent, wanted to be the No. 1 defense in the country and win a national championship," Jim Knowles said. "There’s that feeling of accomplishment — job done. Got an amazing offer from Penn State and Ohio State doesn’t match it. I didn’t take it right away. "But I was like, ‘OK, I guess I need to think about this.’ Ohio State asked me not to go to [the national championship] parade. It’s kind of like … you’re like, ‘OK, I guess I’m supposed to go somewhere else.’”Jim Knowles caught a lot of flak from Ohio State fans when he revealed that he was the one who called Penn State coach James Franklin regarding the Nittany Lions' defensive coordinator job that had just been vacated by Tom Allen, who departed for the Clemson Tigers.