According to multiple sources, Jim Knowles will be leaving Ohio State after three seasons with the Buckeyes to take a job as the defensive coordinator at Penn State.
Not even a week after winning the national championship, Knowles is headed closer to his hometown Philadelphia to lead a Big Ten rival defense in State College, Pa.
Over the weekend it was reported that Knowles had been offered a contract from Ohio State that would make him the highest paid assistant coach in college football, but that wasn’t enough to keep him around.
He had also fielded offers from both Oklahoma and Notre Dame, but will now join head coach James Franklin with the Nittany Lions.
Knowles was not seated with the rest of the coaches during Ohio State’s national championship celebration on Sunday. As of now, there are no candidates to take over Knowles’ role, but both cornerbacks coach Tim Walton and safeties coach Matt Guerrieri have been coordinators before.
But if Ohio State wants to go after a bigger name that will be on the market, it has shown that it won’t shy away from that, proving that last year by hiring Chip Kelly as the offensive coordinator.
It will be a tough task for the Buckeyes new defensive coordinator to match the number that Knowles’ unit was able to put up this season since eight starters won’t be returning to the 2025 Buckeyes, although Caleb Downs, Sonny Styles and Davison Igbinosun will be.
