BREAKING: Penn State football makes Jim Knowles hire official

Penn State football has officially hired Jim Knowles as its next defensive coordinator. The Penn State Board of Trustees Committee on Equity and Human Resources voted to unanimously approve the addition of the Ohio State assistant coach on Monday morning.

News of the hire first broke on Sunday afternoon. Knowles is expected to make an average of $3.1 million annually over the next three seasons. The contract makes the Philadelphia native the highest-paid coordinator in college football, and by a wide margin. LSU’s Blake Baker was the highest-paid defensive coordinator in the country in 2024, earning $2.5 million.

It’s official. Welcome to Happy Valley!#WeAre x @CoachJimKnowles pic.twitter.com/XwoyEs20sv

— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) January 27, 2025

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© Alex Disabella / Basic Blues Nation, 2024.

Looking ahead, Penn State football can make a strong case for having the best coordinator duo in America in Knowles and Andy Kotelnicki.

The Nittany Lions lose a handful of stars on the defensive side of the ball, but return some of the team’s most veteran playmakers, such as Dani Dennis-Sutton, Zakee Wheatley, and Dom DeLuca. Offensively, Penn State was able to secure its trio of superstars – Drew Allar, Nicholas Singleton, and Kaytron Allen – for one more year. The unit will again search for answers at wide receiver this offseason. But for the most part, it is shaping up to be one of the nation’s most lethal offenses in 2025.

More importantly, the Knowles hire can be seen as a shot across the bow for the rest of the sport. With the university-wide alignment he so desperately sought finally in place, James Franklin led the Nittany Lions within one drive of the National Championship Game in 2024. The message is now clear: in 2025, Penn State football is coming for the whole thing.

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