Philadelphia Catholic League football
Penn State to Hire Philly Native Jim Knowles as Defensive Coordinator

It looks like Penn State has its man at defensive coordinator, and his name is Jim Knowles.
In a move that will send shockwaves through college football, Philadelphia Sports Now partner site Nittany Sports Now can confirm that Knowles has agreed to leave the same position at Ohio State — where he helped win a national championship on Monday, Jan. 20 — and come to Happy Valley.
Toby Rowland, the radio play-by-play man for Oklahoma, which had been linked to Knowles, reported that “barring last second change of heart, Jim Knowles is headed to Penn State. He has notified James Franklin that he’ll accept their offer of well over $3 million to be highest paid coordinator in college football history.”
Knowles, 59, was born and raised in Philadelphia, attending St. Joseph’s Prep for high school and spending four seasons as a linebacker at the Division 1 level with Cornell. He’s since spent the better part of 40 seasons at a number of defense-oriented coaching positions throughout college football.
Pennsylvania Native, Longtime Target
Penn State coach James Franklin has been interested in having Jim Knowles on his staff for a while. Here’s what Franklin had to say about him during a past press conference.
“Defensively Jim Knowles, who is also a PA guy, is doing a really good job with their defense, and has now for the last couple years. Multiple, multiple scheme defense,” said Franklin. “Obviously, the last two years they’ve played really good defense. Really over the last number of years they’ve played really good defense. But I think since Coach Knowles has been there, he’s taken them to a whole ‘nother level.”
Nittany Sports Now can confirm Rowland’s report that it’s well over $3 million, which would make him the highest paid assistant coach in the country… as much as $1 million more than the next closest competitor, Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock.
A version of this story first appeared on our affiliate site, Nittany Sports Now.