Jim Knowles is on the move again.
One season after leaving his defensive coordinator position at Ohio State for the same role at Penn State, Tennessee has hired Knowles to be its new DC.
Welcome to Rocky Top, @CoachJimKnowles!
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) December 11, 2025
https://t.co/ta5ehTH2fI#GBO pic.twitter.com/AOTI5PO3lh
Per ESPN, Knowles will be paid $2 million in 2026, $2.2 million in 2027 and $2.4 million in 2028. By comparison, Knowles was paid $2.2 million in his final season as Ohio State’s defensive coordinator in 2024 and signed a deal worth an average of $3.1 million per year to be Penn State’s defensive coordinator in 2025, though he’s expected to receive buyout money from Penn State.
Tennessee makes this official. They will be paying him $2.0 million in 2026, $2.2 in 2027 and $2.4 million in 2028. (He also expected to get a buyout, which was being negotiated from the $7 million Penn State owed him on his deal.) https://t.co/2bUE1A9kfm
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 11, 2025
Two staff overhauls from both programs involved prompted the move. The Nittany Lions are hiring a new head coach in Iowa State's Matt Campbell, while the Volunteers are overhauling their defensive staff after firing defensive coordinator Tim Banks.
Banks was a 2024 finalist for the Broyles Award, given annually to the nation's best assistant coach, but his downfall arguably started right after landing that nomination when Ohio State gashed Tennessee in the first round of the College Football Playoff during a 42-17 Buckeye victory.
In 2025, the Volunteers trudged to a disappointing 8-4 regular season and Banks' defense proved a primary reason why. Tennessee is 93rd nationally in scoring defense (28.8 points allowed per game) and 88th in total defense (395.5 yards allowed per game).
This season hasn't been a banner year for Knowles, however, after he coordinated the No. 1 scoring and total defense in the nation as part of a national championship effort for Ohio State in 2024. A Penn State defense expected to be elite ranks just 34th nationally in total defense (334.3 yards allowed per game) and 37th in scoring defense (21.4 points allowed per game). The Nittany Lions allowed 42 points to a then-winless UCLA squad during the second game of a three-game losing streak that prompted the firing of former head coach James Franklin.
Still, Knowles is credited with leading the turnaround of Ohio State's defense from one of the worst in school history in 2021, the year before his arrival, to the nation's best in a span of three years before he departed for State College.
