Jim Knowles’ defense is not static and is certainly malleable to suggestions, but even a veteran coach has a breaking point with directives.
The coordinator reached his limit after three years at Ohio State, where he successfully revamped and revitalized a struggling unit into a championship caliber group in short order — but not without interference and pressures from head coach Ryan Day, who inserted himself in defensive meetings more often this season and asked for changes to be made midway through the season, sources told CBS Sports. Last week, their short marriage ended with Knowles bolting for rival Penn State. A bigger payday and more autonomy to run his scheme awaits him in State College, where he will be introduced Tuesday in a press conference.
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The departure was not a surprise for Ohio State staffers. Knowles also fielded discussions with Oklahoma and Notre Dame, and rumors of a departure for the Sooners hit a fever pitch as the Buckeyes prepared for the national championship game against the Irish. It never distracted Ohio State, particularly because Knowles, lovingly referred to as a hermit with a coach’s whistle, never relented from his habits: locking himself in his office, studying opponents’ film and developing concise game plans before emerging from behind closed doors with a plan that always seemed to wow his players.
“I always called him Batman,” Buckeyes defensive end J.T. Tuimoloau said before Ohio State’s win against the Irish in the national championship. “He is in his cave, and he comes out and you never know what he has in store, but you’ve got to get to know him. Once you get to know him, that’s one guy you’ll have on your side. To be able to play for him as a DC, it’s a blessing.”
The Buckeyes won the national championship and Knowles polished the “Silver Bullets” into the nation’s best defense (12.9 points per game), but did so rebuilding the unit over three years with the understanding that mixing his three-man front schemes would never be a hallmark in Columbus, sources told CBS Sports. The crux was longtime defensive line coach Larry Johnson, whose four-man front philosophies are ingrained in the Buckeyes’ culture. It was Knowles, not the Buckeyes, who had to adjust philosophically. That didn’t necessarily eliminate Knowles’ three-man looks and mixing coverages, but his love of utilizing a “Jack” hybrid on and off the line was never the touchstone it was previously at Oklahoma State and Duke.
Meanwhile, Day’s appearances in the defensive meeting room increased after the Buckeyes’ 32-31 loss at Oregon in Week 7. They allowed nearly 500 yards of offense, including 341 yards passing, as superstars like cornerback Denzel Burke struggled in coverage.
It’s not unusual for a head coach to take an added interest in a particular unit after a loss, but what made this development more personal and political was Day’s background as an offensive coordinator. As Day left mentor Chip Kelly on his own to develop game plans and call games, it was the veteran defensive coordinator who instead had to deal with his boss breathing down his neck.
That didn’t mix well with Knowles’ lone ranger attitude. The Cornell graduate, who also got his coaching start in the Ivy League, is not your typical play-caller. He enjoys cigars and sushi, and is quite the reflective intellectual.
“He’s smart, and he just so happens to like football,” an Ohio State source said. “He’s a guy you could see being a curator of art or maybe a professor discussing World War II history.”
Still, Knowles and Day worked well together. The defense allowed only 9.7 points per game for the remainder of the regular season, including the 13-10 loss to Michigan in the finale, before the offense exploded in the playoffs with double-digit wins in all four rounds, including the 34-23 capper against Notre Dame for the national title.
“When he was at Oklahoma State, they didn’t have four down D-linemen, and then certainly no depth behind it,” Day said of Knowles in late October. “So, he had to be creative about what he was doing there. Decision was made a long time ago that we have the D-linemen here at Ohio State that can play with four down linemen.”
Shortly after the national championship game on Jan. 20, Knowles, 59, began fielding phone calls from suitors, sources told CBS Sports. The flirtations led to counter offers from Ohio State, and though their pitches were in the same pay-day ranges discussed with Oklahoma and Penn State, there was a caveat: if you don’t commit now to the Buckeyes, you will be barred from the team’s championship celebration inside Ohio Stadium on Jan. 26. At that point, negotiations broke down and Knowles, who already had one foot out the door, made up his mind, and subsequently agreed to join Penn State. Not long after Day told 30,000 fans celebrating inside Ohio Stadium that Knowles was “the defensive coordinator of the best defense in the country,” the play-caller wrapped up a deal with the Nittany Lions. Penn State announced Knowles as DC less than 24 hours later.
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Interestingly, Knowles leaves Ohio State for a similar ready-made situation to win a title that he had with the Buckeyes a year ago. It was in late January 2024, shortly after Ross Bjork was hired as Ohio State’s athletics director, that the school committed to go full speed with a $20 million NIL treasure chest, and attacked the transfer portal with relentlessness, effectively transforming a championship-worthy roster into unquestionably the most talented team in the sport.
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Penn State has money to spend, and isn’t afraid to show it. They made Knowles the highest-paid assistant coach in college football with a deal averaging $3.1 million, with a bonus structure that could push that annual total over $4 million, according to CBS Sports sources. Head coach James Franklin has received three contract extensions and raises since last winning a Big Ten title in 2016, and is paid an average of $8.5 million annually, according to a 10-year deal he signed in November 2021.
Penn State’s total revenue jumped nearly $18 million to a record $220.8 million in its most recent annual fiscal report released last month. Where that stands nationally is not entirely clear as the NCAA releases financial reports this month, but it’s behind goliaths Texas ($331.9 million) and Ohio State ($254.9 million), according to documents obtained by USA TODAY last week. Penn State has usually ranked third in the Big Ten in operating revenue behind the Buckeyes and Michigan.
How Penn State plans to attack the spring portal window remains to be seen, but it stands to return one of the nation’s more talented rosters. The Nittany Lions lose future first-round pass rusher Abdul Carter but returns a plethora of stars, including Dani Dennis-Sutton, who accounted for 8.5 sacks last season. The offense is loaded, again, with running backs Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton returning, too.
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Meanwhile, Ohio State loses eight starters on defense, including its entire defensive front, led by Ohio State legend Jack Sawyer, whose fumble return against Texas in the CFP semifinals will forever be remembered as the biggest play of the Buckeyes’ title run.
Also tugging at Knowles? Returning home for the first time in his 37-year coaching career. “Penn State was everything. It was everything. That’s what we aspired to be and I couldn’t get there as a player, but through a lot of work, a lot of time, a lot of really good players, that allowed me to reach that point in my career where I could really pick wherever I wanted to be,” Knowles told Penn State players during a team meeting last week.
Knowles grew up in north Philadelphia, the son of a police officer, which he often refers to as the framework for his coaching style. “Raised by a Philly cop,” he said two days before the national championship. “So there’s an intensity that goes with that.”
Dennis Dodd contributed to this report
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