Jim Knowles zeroes in on helping Penn State reach national championship aspirations: ‘That’s not just talk’

Penn State has never been closer to the national championship during the modern era than it was in 2024.

The Nittany Lions reached the College Football Playoff semifinals for the first time in the debut season of the 12-team field before falling to eventual national runner-up Notre Dame in the final moments of the Orange Bowl. Unlike several teams in the playoff last season, Penn State returns a plethora of starters next fall, and coach James Franklin is pushing every button to make 2025 the all-in year for the program. 

It’s one reason why Franklin hired away Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles less than one week after he won a national title, luring him with the richest salary for an assistant coach in the sport ($3.1 million per year).

“So close, so close, right?” Knowles said Thursday at his introductory press conference in State College. “I think I can help, I think I can be of service.”

Defense has rarely been a weakness at Penn State, consistently ranking in the top 10 nationally, but pulling Knowles, who led the nation’s best defense last season at Ohio State, has reinvigorated the Nittany Lions’ championship hopes.

Penn State has long been on the precipice of a breakthrough — six double-digit win seasons, including a school-record 13 wins in 2024, in the last nine years — but has fallen short of playing for the national title. Like Ohio State in 2024, Penn State is taking a page from the Buckeyes’ playbook, investing heavily on a make-or-break season with revenue-sharing for players and a top-tier staff with championship experience. 

“I have one aspiration,” said Knowles, 59. “I’m at that point in my career where you focus solely on the job at hand, and my aspiration is to help Penn State win the national championship and be the No. 1 defense in the country — and that’s really all I’m focused on. That’s not just talk. That’s the truth. I don’t have any aspirations beyond that.”

Certainly, that prompts the question: Then why leave Ohio State, a program flush with resources coming off its second national title in 10 years? CBS Sports learned of an uneasy relationship among the staff, particularly among assistants, and a new challenge pushed Knowles to consider opportunities at Oklahoma, Notre Dame and Penn State. 

At Penn State, Franklin “has built a culture here that has really emphasized defense,” Knowles said.

“I’ve been around situations where all the offense has done is try to score as fast as they could and didn’t worry about going three-and-out in 30 seconds in places that could put a defense at a disadvantage,” said Knowles, who in addition to Ohio State has previously coordinated defenses at Oklahoma State and Duke. “He hasn’t structured it like that here. He has made it conducive to be successful on defense. You can talk about that, but the proof is in the numbers. They’ve had various coordinators here recently and guess what? The defense has still always been pretty good.”

Indeed, Penn State’s scoring defense has ranked inside the top 10 in five of the last six seasons and did so under three different coordinators. Knowles takes over as the third play-caller in as many years, following Tom Allen, who recently departed for Clemson.

For now, it appears Penn State will keep its defensive staff intact, including co-coordinator Anthony Poindexter.

“It makes my life a lot easier — veteran coaches who have been successful but are also really low-ego guys,” Knowles said. “I’ve talked to all of them and it comes through: we just want what’s best for Penn State and our players. That allows for a free exchange of ideas where everybody is free to say what they want, what worked, what didn’t and what can make us better.”

Knowles reiterated he will not hammer his system and terminology into a square hole at Penn State, which he affectionately referred to as “Linebacker U” during his introductory press conference. He said he will mesh his scheme with Penn State’s most recent iterations and may swap some of his terminology to match the language utilized by his predecessors.

Whether he brings back his beloved hybrid position, the “Jack” or “Leo,” remains to be seen. He shelved the position during most of his three-year tenure at Ohio State, which focused more on four-man fronts with longtime defensive line coach Larry Johnson involved in building the framework of the defense.

“I guess I learned through that whole process I really need to evaluate first who the players are here and what they do well,” Knowles said. “It’s not about what I know, it’s about what works best for Penn State.”

Knowles finally has a national title as he enters his 37th year as a coach, but he still holds a dream from childhood when he watched Penn State on TV and admired the Nittany Lions. Gone are the days of a young Knowles believing he may one day be the head coach of the Green Bay Packers, and in his wake has bloomed an older, wiser coordinator who just wants to be part of championship teams. 

“I tell my kids all the time I was a guttersnipe, running around the streets of Philly,” Knowles said. “Any relationship I had (with Penn State) was just all in my mind, kind of a dream. I said it earlier and I don’t want to repeat myself, but it’s the truth: I’m old enough where we had three channels where you didn’t have a remote, you had to get up and change the television yourself. I never even dreamt of going to a game. We didn’t have that kinda money or those kinds of resources. State College could have been California. When you’re in Philly, it’s all out there.”

Penn State, he said, has the pieces in place to win its first national title since 1986.

“This is the place. Everything here is so close to winning it all and I’m hopeful that I can help get it there.”