According to multiple reports on Wednesday, the Tennessee Volunteers are set to hire former Penn State Nittany Lions' defensive coordinator Jim Knowles.
As the Penn State Nittany Lions welcome the program’s newest head coach, Matt Campbell, this week, the team’s coaching staff is beginning to see some turnover before entering into the 2026 college football season.
According to On3Sports’ Chris Low on Wednesday, former Penn State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles is set to become the defensive coordinator for the Tennessee Volunteers.
Knowles is most notable for his time as the defensive play caller for the Ohio State Buckeyes during the program’s 2024 National Title run. But after winning the title with the Buckeyes in 2024, the 60-year-old coach would leave the program to join the Nittany Lions for the 2025 college football season.
With how well Knowles did during his previous stint and the ample number of players that Penn State returned on the defensive side of the ball, many believed that the Nittany Lions’ defense could be one of the best this past season.
However, this was not the case.
Under Knowles, the program concluded the 2025 regular season, allowing an average of 24.1 points per game, which ranked eighth in the Big Ten Conference. In addition to that margin, the Nittany Lions allowed an average of 334.3 yards per game this year, which ranked ninth across the conference.
Once the program decided to fire head coach James Franklin after an abysmal 3-3 start, it was clear that Knowles’ future with his new team would be in jeopardy heading into the 2026 season.
This became true on Wednesday afternoon before he officially took the Tennessee job, as On3Sports’ Pete Nakos reported that Penn State’s newly-hired head coach, Matt Campbell, would not retain Knowles as the team’s defensive coordinator.
Now that athletic director Pat Kraft has officially found his next head coach, it will be up to Campbell to find Knowles’ replacement for the 2026 season.
One option for the vacancy could be Jon Heacock, his former defensive coordinator with the Cyclones. The defensive coordinator joined the Iowa State staff with Campbell back in 2015 and helped his head coach lead the program to multiple successful seasons in the Big 12 Conference.