Penn State Is 'So Close' to Winning a Title, Jim Knowles Says

STATE COLLEGE | So why did Jim Knowles leave Ohio State for Penn State, less than a week after helping the Buckeyes win the national championship? Knowles told a few nice stories about watching Penn State highlight shows as a kid and coaches who used to roll up their pant legs, but really, he distilled it to this.

"I think I can help," Knowles said. "I think I can be of service. Once you get past thinking you're going to be the head coach of the Green Bay Packers as you move forward in your career, you really start thinking about, how can I be of service? Where can I add to a great team, and be a part of a great team? And this is the place, because everything here is so close to winning it all, and I'm hopeful that I can help get it there."

Penn State introduced Knowles to the local media Tuesday, eight days after announcing its stunning move to poach the coach who Ohio State's Ryan Day called the "best defensive coordinator in the country." Penn State made Knowles the nation's highest-paid assistant coach and gave him a mission statement that he said aloud: "My aspiration is to help Penn State win the national championship and be the No. 1 defense in the country," he said.

Knowles, 59, doesn't arrive at Penn State as some sort of short-term mercenary. In Knowles' 37-year coaching career, Penn State is just his seventh school, a rare one-page resume in today's profession. He has made only one one-year stop, at Mississippi in 2003, which he left to become head coach at Cornell, his alma mater. Knowles spent eight years at Duke, four at Oklahoma State and three at Ohio State before joining James Franklin's Penn State football staff.

The Franklin-Knowles relationship sounded solid, and Knowles said he appreciated having a staff of defensive assistants who have been successful and are, as he termed it, "really low-ego guys." Penn State appears as though it will retain its entire defensive staff, including co-coordinator Anthony Poindexter, who was a candidate for the job. Terry Smith, Penn State's associate head coach and cornerbacks coach, has been with Franklin since 2014. Smith, defensive line coach Deion Barnes and de facto linebackers coach Dan Connor (officially an analyst) all played for the Nittany Lions.

"I've talked to all of them, and it comes through like, 'Hey, we just want what's best for Penn State, and we want what's best for our players,'" Knowles said. "That allows for a free exchange of ideas where everybody's free to say what they want and what worked and what didn't and what could make us better."

At his introductory press conference today, Jim Knowles addressed his decision to leave Ohio State for Penn State. pic.twitter.com/nkSCEM1iC5
— Mark Wogenrich (@MarkWogenrich) February 4, 2025

In his past hires of Manny Diaz and Tom Allen as defensive coordinators, Franklin made clear that he wasn't looking for a product overhaul. He did the same with Knowles, who appreciated how Franklin makes defense a part of the whole rather than a unit that serves the offense.

"He has built a culture here that has really emphasized defense," Knowles said. "I think he's been an offensive guy, so maybe some people look at him like that. But when you look back at his history — he didn't really have to sell it, but we talked about it — they've had really good defenses here. They've been through some different coordinators but they have always had a good defense. So that goes into how you structure your practice plan and how you structure your offense in terms of the tempo of the offense.

"I've been around situations where all the offense has done is try to score as fast as they could and didn't worry about going three-and-out in 30 seconds, places that can put a defense at a disadvantage. He hasn't structured it like that. Here he has made it conducive to be successful. You can talk about that, but the proof is in the numbers."

Knowles arrives to a Penn State program that last season won a school-record 13 games, reached the College Football Playoff semifinals and fell 1-2 defensive stops short of the title game. His assignment is to get Penn State there next season.

“I’m grateful for my time at Ohio State, the opportunity that coach [Ryan] Day gave me,” Knowles said. “We had the No. 1 defense in the country, we won the national championship, had great relationships with the players and coach Day and the administration and felt supported. You reach a point in your career where you’re given opportunities based on past performance, and Penn State, for me growing up in inner-city Philly, was the epitome of college football when I was a kid. I was never talented enough to make it to Penn State as a player, but given the opportunity to do it now as a coach, it's really where I want to be to continue my career and bring any expertise I can to the organization."

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