BREAKING: James Franklin lands Ohio State DC to lead Penn State defense

As January reaches its conclusion, James Franklin may have just pulled off what could ultimately be considered the top assistant coach hire of the entire 2025 offseason. Penn State football appears ready to make a statement hire on the defensive side of the line of scrimmage as the Nittany Lions are set to bring on Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles for the same role.

Matt Zenitz of 247Sports broke the news on Sunday afternoon. Knowles replaces Tom Allen, who left Happy Valley after one season to become the defensive coordinator at Clemson.

Jim Knowles has accepted the defensive coordinator job at Penn State, sources tell @CBSSports/@247Sports.

Knowles led the way as Ohio State ranked No. 1 nationally this year in scoring defense and was a key figure in the Buckeyes’ run to a national title.… pic.twitter.com/oecVr58Y9l

— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) January 26, 2025

Further reporting from Pete Thamel confirmed the news. Penn State is expected to offer Knowles as three contract with an average $3.1 million annual payout. That would make Knowles the highest paid defensive coordinator in college football.

Knowles comes to State College after helping bring a national title back to Columbus. In his third season with Ohio State, the Buckeyes led the nation in total and scoring defense this season. Knowles’s unit was also top five in the red zone and against the run and was top 20 versus the pass.

A native Pennsylvanian, Knowles is a graduate of St. Joseph’s Prep in Philadelphia. The 35-year coaching veteran has served in numerous capacities across the Big Ten, SEC, Big 12, and ACC and has even spent six years as head coach at his alma mater, Cornell.

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© Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Penn State football emerges from bidding war on top

However, Knowles’s three seasons as Oklahoma State’s defensive coordinator evidently presented the biggest challenge to James Franklin and the Nittany Lions in pulling Knowles from their in-conference rival. According to reports, Knowles was also the leading candidate to return to the Sooner State as the defensive coordinator at Oklahoma. Notre Dame was actively courting the Buckeyes playcaller as well. 

It’s hard to view the hire as anything other than an inflection point for James Franklin and Penn State football. The program senses a window of opportunity coming out of last season’s run to the National Semifinal and is seizing it.

“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,” Franklin said of Knowles ahead of the Nittany Lions’ November 2 matchup with the Buckeyes. “Multiple scheme defense.

“Really, probably the thing that gets talked about the most is their three safeties that they play with. How they do it, he’s been doing that in some form all the way back to his time at Oklahoma State. But he’s really doing a nice job.”

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