STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — It didn’t take long for Jim Knowles to confirm what he believed was true when Penn State hired him to be defensive coordinator just three months ago.
Then, Knowles was fresh off coaching Ohio State’s defense to a national championship win not long after the Nittany Lions failed to advance to that game, losing in the College Football Playoff semifinals. The Philadelphia native thought Penn State had all the pieces to do one game better. He thought he could help.
Now that he’s had a chance to go hands-on during 15 spring practices, he doesn’t hesitate when asked if this team, specifically a defense that needs to replace star linebacker Abdul Carter, can win a national championship.
“Yes,” Knowles said. “Next question.”
How much will be different, and how much needs to be for a squad that ranked near the top of every major defensive category and helped dictate playoff games last season?
“I think we’ve made a lot of progress in a short time, blending new concepts with some of the old concepts,” Knowles said. “They were very good here on defense, so we’re using what we can to try and keep things on similar terms for the players.”
While Penn State’s defense was really good, the Buckeyes were a bit better. Knowles’ last defense allowed the fewest points (12.9) per game, gave up the fewest yards (254.6) per game, finished second in sacks (53) and second in red zone defense (60%) during the Buckeyes’ championship season.
Penn State defenders were aware of their new coach’s recent success with their biggest rivals and were determined to make good first impressions as soon as practices started earlier this month.
“We’re in Year 2 on offense and what, three months on defense and it’s been really competitive out here,” Franklin said. “So I think that’s a real positive for us to lay a really good foundation.”
Knowles is soft-spoken when compared to his predecessors — the excitable and gravelly-voiced Tom Allen and the man who held the job before both of them, the quick-talking, intense Manny Diaz.
Allen and Diaz both kept Penn State’s defense competitive, and those who played for them have insisted each man left behind big shoes to fill.
In the opinion of linebacker coach Dan Connor, who joined Diaz’s staff as a defensive analyst in 2022, Knowles can definitely fill them.
“Incredibly smart guy. Makes everyone around him better,” Connor said. “You come to work and you’re on edge because you know, I have to perform my job as a coach, my players have to perform because he’s seen it done right. He’s seen the final picture.”
Penn State’s spring practice period concluded with Saturday's Blue-White intrasquad scrimmage. Knowles has proven to be a quick study, developing plenty of knowledge from mostly observing and listening.
He’s quietly made his way around the team’s indoor facility and three outdoor practice fields, staying well behind formations to maintain a wide field of view on personnel matchups each practice. He’s already envisioning what multiple position groups will look like heading into training camp.
“Really, just trying to pick up on their strengths and weaknesses and what they grasp,” Knowles said. “I try to stay out of the picture a lot in practice because I’ve scripted it all, I’ve set it all up. So now I like to watch how it all comes together. It gives me kind of a big picture feel about how they’re picking up the concepts.”
And while Connor agreed that Knowles is one of the more mild-mannered coaches he’s been around, Knowles can step in and be just as demonstrative and fiery when he needs to be.
“Every good coach I’ve been around has edge and he’s got edge,” Connor said. "The players obviously respect him for his accomplishments and respect him because he comes in here with really good schemes and super high expectations and has a high standard and that’s what guys come to Penn State for.”
What did Knowles come to Penn State for after winning it all with the Buckeyes? A nice raise on the multi-million-dollar salary Ohio State paid him was surely alluring. But he was also attracted to the idea that he could be the man to push a program he once revered to its ultimate goal once and for all.
“Penn State, for me growing up in inner-city Philly, was the epitome of college football,” Knowles said. “I was never talented enough to make it to Penn State as a player, but given the opportunity now as a coach, it’s really where I want to be to continue my career and bring any expertise that I can to the organization.”
___
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
Travis Johnson, The Associated Press
