On Tuesday, Penn State officially introduced new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles to the media for the first time. Happy Valley Insider shares our takeaways from Knowles' 30-minute media session.
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1. Jim Knowles could be a long-term answer for Penn State at defensive coordinator
Let's get one thing straight and it was obvious the moment he agreed to be Penn State's defensive coordinator. Jim Knowles wants to be at Penn State. Jim Knowles very easily could've opted to return to the state of Oklahoma and be with the Sooners, he could've easily chosen to remain in Columbus where he just won a national championship. Instead, he's now in Happy Valley and is a Nittany Lion.
Yes, Penn State's willingness to pay Knowles an unprecedented three million to be their defensive coordinator helps but Knowles by all accounts appears to be at Penn State for the long run.
Knowles has a three-year contract with the Nittany Lions, with success, that contract will likely be extended. Additionally, the 59-year-old Philadelphia native hasn't shown any aspirations to be a head coach once again.
"I'm at that point in my career where you focus solely on the job at hand, my aspiration is to help Penn State win the national championship and be the No. 1 defense in the country," Knowles told the media when asked if he has any head coaching aspirations. "And that's really all I'm focused on that. And that's not just talk. That's the truth. I don't have any aspirations beyond that."
But beyond his answer, Knowles has widely been considered one of the best defensive coordinators in the country and over the last decade would've had his fair share of opportunities to possibly take over a program. To this point, he hasn't shown a desire to be a head coach again after previously being the head coach at Cornell from 2004 through 2009.
Yes, another program could make a godfather offer to Knowles down the road or perhaps an NFL team could explore him as a possibility, but as of right now, the expectation in my opinion should be Knowles at the very least is Knowles being the Nittany Lions defensive coordinator for at least the length of his contract and I think it's likely that it goes beyond that.
I think that was a major part of James Franklin bringing in Knowles as well. Yes, he wanted to have the best defensive coordinator in the country on his side but by bringing on Knowles, and knowing Knowles's aspirations at this point, he knew he probably doesn't have to worry about Knowles looking to make a move elsewhere anytime soon.
2. He came to Penn State to win a national championship
One of the main takeaways from my point of view on Tuesday was that Jim Knowles truly thinks that Penn State is close. Really close. The Philadelphia native on Tuesday mentioned multiple times about Penn State's standing in the college football world and how it impacted his decision.
We already mentioned one of those quotes above, Knowles saying that his only aspiration at this pointing time is to help Penn State win a national championship and to be the No.1 team in the country.
Later at the end of his press conference, he was asked why it's important for him to be at Penn State right now and help the Nittany Lions win a national championship.
"I see it as I mean, so close. So close," he said. "I think I can help. I think I can be of service," Knowles added.
"These things once you get past, you know, maybe being young and thinking you're going to be the head coach of the Green Bay Packers, you know, as you move forward in your career, you really start thinking about how can I be of service? You know, 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, you know, I can help get it there."
Penn State and Knowles' best chance at winning that national championship will come this upcoming fall as the Nittany Lions are expected to be among the favorites to win it all.
3. Penn State's defensive-minded culture stood out to Knowles
One of the more interesting answers on Tuesday was when Knowles was asked about James Franklin's pitch to him during the process.
"I think coming from Coach Franklin and it wasn't really a pitch, but it was something we could openly discuss, is that he has built a culture here that. Has really emphasized defense," Knowles said.
"You know, 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 because they've had really good defense here, right?" he added. "They've been through some different coordinators, but they have always had good defense. So that goes into how you structure your practice plan, how you structure your offense in terms of the tempo of the offense," Knowles noted.
"I've been around situations where all the offense has done is tried to score as fast as they could and, you know, didn't worry about going three and out in 30 seconds, you know, and places that can put a defense at a disadvantage," he said, primarily referring to his time at Oklahoma State under head coach Mike Gundy. "Well, he hasn't structured it like that here. You know, he has he has made it conducive to be successful on defense."
"And you can talk about that, but the proof is in the numbers. You know, I mean, they've like I said, they've had some various coordinators here recently. And guess what? The defense has still always been pretty good."
4. Jim Knowles will be coaching from the press box
A smaller note here but Jim Knowles will be coaching from the press box with the Nittany Lions. Notably, former defensive coordinator Tom Allen started on the field last fall before moving to the press box.
He was the first Nittany Lions defensive coordinator since Bob Shoop to call plays from the box as Brent Pry and Manny Diaz in their eight combined seasons both called the game from the field.
Knowles, who has done both says it he has spent most of his time recently in the press box and it sounds like that won't be changing in Happy Valley.
"I've gone back and forth, but most recently, I'd say I spend most of my time in the press box," Knowles said about his plans. "And, you know, that allows me to get the best vision on the action. And with the iPads now and the communication directly to the players, you know, in the helmet. I can still be very connected," he noted. The NCAA ahead of the 2024 season allowed the usage of iPads on the sideline as well as one player on the offense and defense having a mic in their helmet to hear the coaching staff.
Knowles also alluded to liking to coach from the box due to the ability to stay more composed throughout the course of the game. "And, you know, there's a lot more time to think up there. You know, I've worked hard, I guess, on, you know, being emotional and challenging in practice and, you know, coaching with an edge in practice. But in the game, that's not my job," he said.
"You know, and the best place to be in order to think and remain calm and try to stay a couple plays ahead and a series ahead is in the press box," he added. "That's just what I found for myself is that you know, if there's a camera up there on me, you're not hopefully you're not going to see me reacting to a bad play or even if we get a great play. You know, I really try to stay centered. And, you know, my job is to not cheer or react or yell. No one's going to hear me up there anyway. Either way. So it's like my job is to is to think and be composed and I've just found the press press box is the best place to do that."
5. Will Penn State use the JACK position?
During his time as a defensive coordinator, one position that has been synonymous with Knowles is the JACK position. The position is considered a hybrid linebacker/defensive end position, it was a feature during his time at Oklahoma State, Duke, and Western Michigan. However, funny enough when he was with Ohio State, the most talented program he's ever been a part of, the Buckeyes didn't have the personnel to run the position.
So will the JACK return now that Knowles is in Happy Valley? That remains to be seen.
"I mean, we're going to have to dive into, you know, who the players are and what they do well," he said when asked about the position. "You know, I made that decision. We experimented with it a little bit early on when I first got to Ohio State, because it was huge for me at Oklahoma State because we had those kind of players who really who really fit it. It was it was fairly big at Duke also. And, you know, going back to way back to Western Michigan when I first started it. But I guess I learned through that whole process that I really need to evaluate first who the players are here and what they do well," Knowles stated.
"And it's not about what I know. It's about what works best for Penn State. So it could be I guess that would be my answer. And kind of like I always said when I was there, it it's always in my head, you know, and I and I always I always have that as an answer. But we got to figure out if it fits first here,"" he remarked.
He was also asked to give the traits of what makes a good JACK.
"That's a that's a guy who is who can mix it up, you know, both physically but mentally to like a guy who can who I can talk to one on one. And I can say, OK, if you if you see this, do that. You know, if they line up like this, you go over here," he explained.
"You know, it's like it's that guy who is really like an eraser, you know, who can who I can put in different places based on based on the game plan. I think it's a great package, you know, particularly if you're undersized or like I always tell high school coaches, I would run because you could go and find somebody in the hallway who's who's not a he's not a DB. He's not a linebacker. He's not a D-lineman, but he's just a hell of a football player. You know, it's for those kind of guys who you don't know exactly what they don't fit the standard of any particular position. But they're just guys who are who are great football players."
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