Penn State rents Jim Knowles from Ohio State, making him the best -paid defensive coordinator of the University Football

Fresh from a National Championship Run with Ohio State, Buckeyes Defensive Coordinator Jim Knowles accepted the same position in Big ten Rival Penn State, Matt Zenitz confirms. Knowles is expected to become the best paid defensive coordinator in the history of College FootballWith a salary range average $ 3.1 million past three yearsAccording to Pete Thamel from ESPN.

Knowles, a resident of Philadelphia with strong ties with the northeast, transformed the defense of the buckeyes during an impressive three -year -old Stint. Ohio State ranked the top three in total defense each of the past two seasons and led the nation by holding opponents to 254.6 yards per match and 4.2 yards each during a historical campaign.

Prior to the state of Ohio, Knowles emerged as a striking name in the state of Oklahoma, where he led the cowboys to a top-five national defense and appearance in the Big 12 Championship game in 2021. He had previously had a striking rack at Duke As a defensive coordinator and served as Cornell's coach, his Alma Mater, from 2004-2009.

In Penn State, Knowles will be given the task of continuing to increase one of the most important defenses in the University Football. The Nittany Lions ranked nationally under earlier defensive coordinator Tom Allen, who left after a season to take the same position at Clemson. Despite three defensive coordinators in the past four seasons, the Nittany Lions have arranged the top 10 every season.

Knowles chose Penn State's huge contract offer over great interest rates from Oklahoma and a strong push from the state of Ohio to keep him. Penn State will be one of the national favorites that will start the 2025 season with the return of Quarterback Drew Allar and Run Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen. Offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki has also rejected the interest of the head coaching to return to Happy Valley.

Power movement for Penn State

Penn State reached the semi-final of the Inaugural 12-Team College Football Play-Off and gave a lead in the second half to reach the National Championship before he just caught briefly vs. Notre Dame. The Nittany Lions are stimulated by the performance and have seriously eliminated zero money to fight in 2025.

Perhaps just as important, the fortunes of Penn State changed dramatically in 2024 with hiring Kotelnicki from Kansas, and he has rejected head coaching opportunities to stay with the program in 2025. The Nittany Lions will be one of the national favorites that enter 2025. During the back-back large coordinator who behaves the Nittany Lions as a historic blue-blood program.

Unusual loss for the state of Ohio

Losing coordinators is common for national championship teams. Former defense coordinator of Georgia, Dan Lanning, left in 2021 to take the job in Oregon, while attacking coordinator Todd Monken left after 2022 to take the same job with the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL. However, it is much less common to go from one role from one coordinator from the university to another.

No primary coordinator of Ohio voluntarily left in at least 20 years to take a university assistant job. The rumor salary of more than $ 3 million can currently simply be an indigestible amount for a coach, especially since important players get even greater rumors to transfer. (Star Wideout Jeremiah Smith, for example, is reportedly offered around $ 4.5 million to transfer.) But if there is nothing else, it is a big shift in the way in which resources are assigned to Elite programs.

Prior to Knowles, both Ryan Day and the former state coach Urban Meyer cycled through defensive coordinators who tried to find a consistency, especially after Luke Fickell left for the job of Cincinnati. The Buckeyes now have the largest coordinator that is opened on the market.