STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Penn State has lured Tom Knowles away from Ohio State.

The Nittany Lions hired Knowles to serve as their defensive coordinator. Knowles held the same position with the national champion Buckeyes for three years.

Knowles replaces Tom Allen, who left to take the same job with Clemson after Penn State fell to Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff semifinals.

Ohio State had the top-ranked defense in the country in 2024. The Buckeyes held opponents to 254 yards while going 14-2 and earning the program’s second national championship of the playoff era.

While Penn State will lose several starters off a defense that finished seventh in the FBS in yards allowed — including Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Abdul Carter, who is heading to the NFL — defensive linemen Zane Durant and Dani Dennis-Sutton, linebacker Tony Rojas and cornerback A.J. Harris will return.

Penn State head coach James Franklin called Knowles “a strong strategist and excellent defensive mind.”

The hiring is a homecoming of sorts for Knowles, who grew up in the Philadelphia area. He played collegiately at Cornell before going into coaching. Previous coaching stops include Duke, Oklahoma State and Mississippi.

When Air Force Col. Cassie Barlow moved to Ohio to become the base commander at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, her teenage daughter enrolled in her 10th school in 16 years.

“The first thing I always thought about when we moved was: ‘Where is my daughter going to go to school?’” Barlow said.

Barlow’s daughter excelled in smaller schools but that wasn’t an option for those living on base, so Barlow enrolled her in a private school instead.

A new change in state law, which will take effect on April 9, will allow children of active-duty military parents to enroll in any public school − as long as the district has space for them.

Sen. Kristina Roegner, R-Hudson, championed the changes in Senate Bill 208, which passed with unanimous, bipartisan support. She said the new law is both a tool to recruit military families to Ohio and a way to express gratitude for their service.

“Education is one of the most important things that families care about because it defines the future for their children,” Roegner said. “We’re hoping that this will make it better for those people who are willing to lay their lives down for our country.”

Barlow’s daughter has already graduated high school. But she wears another hat as president of the Southwestern Ohio Council for Higher Education focused on workforce development. This bill will help recruiting military families to come and stay in Ohio.

“We are in an incredibly competitive workforce market right now. To be able to have something like this make us much more attractive to military members and to veterans,” Barlow said.

How would the change help military families?

Under current law, school districts must decide if they will allow students to enroll from other school districts under any circumstances. If districts allow open enrollment, the option can be limited to surrounding school districts. Soon, schools will make an exception for children in military families.

It’s not clear how many students might take advantage of the option. More than 7,300 students from military families were enrolled in Ohio schools during the 2022-2023 academic year, according to a legislative analysis. Many live near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base just east of Dayton or the Defense Supply Center Columbus in Whitehall.

School districts that enroll military children could see a bump in state money while districts that students leave might lose some funding, according to an analysis of the bill’s financial impact.

Ohio will join 17 other states that offer open enrollment for children of military families. The change will help military families, whose children change schools up to 10 times before graduation, said Shane Preston, the Great Lakes Region liaison at the U.S. Department of Defense-State Liaison Office.

“Military families are at a disadvantage when it comes to enrollment options available to their children, due to the timing of military-directed moves,” Preston told lawmakers.

Roegner introduced the bill to help military children after passing about a dozen laws that allow nurses, physical therapists, counselors, audiologists and other professionals to use their licenses from other states in Ohio. These licensure compacts help anyone considering a move to Ohio, she said.

When deciding where to move, families consider how hard it will be for their spouses to find work and their children to find a school, Roegner said. “Hopefully, this will make it easier.”

Jessie Balmert covers state government and politics for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

The Ohio State Buckeyes are losing both TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins to the NFL Draft. Heading into the 2025 college football season, Ohio State will need to figure out how to replace them.

Both Henderson and Judkins are legitimate stars. Finding a way to replace them will not be easy.

James Peoples and CJ Donaldson are going to be the top two running backs on the roster, but the Buckeyes also have some young talent coming in.

One of their 2025 recruits, Anthony Rogers, appears to have a very bright future ahead of him.

Rogers is a four-star running back hailing from Carver High School in Montgomery, Alabama. He is the No. 11 ranked running back in the nation.

Andrew Ivins of 247 Sports has also made a very intriguing comparison for Rogers. He thinks the incoming freshman is a similar player to current Miami Dolphins running back Devon Achane.

Here is what Ivins had to say about Rogers in his evaluation:

“A quick-twitched slasher that’s fearless as an inside runner. On the smaller side, but has exhibited strong contact balance and can power his way through his fair share of tacklers,” Ivins wrote. “In his first two years at the prep level, totaled 2,765 yards and 40 touchdowns on the ground while averaging 9.2 yards per carry. Transferred into IMG Academy in advance of his junior season and received glowing reviews right away from the staff at the FBS factory.”

“Patient feet and plus vision allows him to pick his lane before he hits the turbo. Gets out of trouble with swift laterally cuts and a slick spin move. Has experience working out of a variety of different offensive looks and has proven to be a tough cover while deployed in the slot. Will need to keep improving as a pass blocker if he wants to be a true three-down back on Saturdays, but is already viewed as one of the top playmakers in the 2025 cycle as he’s a threat to score anytime he finds a crease in a defense. Should be able to add value as a return man at the school of his choice. NFL potential, especially with his long speed as he already owns a laser-timed 4.48 in the 40-yard dash.”

If he can live up to that comparison, Rogers is going to be a future star for Ohio State. He has shown off dynamic playmaking ability throughout his high school career and could end up pushing for some carries as a freshman.

Along with Rogers, the Buckeyes are also bringing in another freshman running back. Bo Jackson will be joining the running back room at Ohio State as well.

Ryan Day and company will have to figure out how to utilize the roster to replace all of the talented players who are leaving the program for the NFL. They have a lot of young talent coming in that could help.

Hopefully, Rogers and Jackson can live up to the hype they’re receiving. If they do, the Buckeyes could very well be looking at their next great running back duo for the next few years.