Former Ohio State Buckeyes defensive coordinator Jim Knowles shared the process of how he became the Penn State Nittany Lions’ DC.
Jim Knowles Says He Reached Out to Penn State First and Was Told To Skip Ohio State’s Parade
College football is a cutthroat business with more and more money circulating each year. That sentiment was proved once again when a bombshell story of how Knowles became the Penn State DC was released by ESPN.
Some interesting notes in the jim knowles interview with espn
– Knowles reached out to penn state 5 am , 29 hours after winning the title, not the penn state reaching out to him
– He’s complaining osu didnt give him a new contract before the Notre Dame game despite signing a… pic.twitter.com/YZvBd4G6gH
— Official Ohio State DG (@DylanEveryday) May 6, 2025
In the story, it says that Knowles reached out to Penn State head coach James Franklin just two days after winning the national championship. While reaching out on his own was out of the ordinary, just two days being the difference between helping leading the top-ranked scoring defense in the country to a national championship and looking for another job is eye-opening.
Franklin took the call, but “To be honest with you,” he said, “I didn’t know how serious it was, but it went pretty quickly from that point on.”
Reportedly, Knowles’ interest in the Nittany Lions program was the driving force for his departure from the Buckeyes — which included tough treatment from fans.
“I kind of blew it off,” Knowles said, commenting on former friends and teammates who had been around the Ohio State program and knew how tough it could be. “I’m like, ‘I grew up in Philly. I’ve been around Eagles fans. We threw snowballs at Santa Claus.’ But yeah, when you’re in it, it’s really tough.”
With a deal not coming from Ohio State at the pace that Knowles wanted, he was off to Penn State to take the same position.
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Then, he was told not to come to the Buckeyes’ national title parade by head coach Ryan Day and athletic director Ross Bjork.
At the end of day, this was a perfect encapsulation of the business that is college football — every man for themselves in this day and age.
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