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Penn State’s search for a new defensive coordinator appears to be coming to a close. On Sunday afternoon, multiple reports surfaced suggesting Penn State is finalizing the contract with Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles to continue in the same position with the Nittany Lions, marking a massive coaching staff move for the program and head coach James Franklin and taking a key piece away from a national championship program.
According to a report from Pete Thamel of ESPN, via social media, Penn State will pay Knowles an average of $3.1 million over the next three seasons. The news of Knowles heading to Penn State came on the same day Ohio State was celebrating its national championship in Ohio Stadium. Head coach Ryan Day acknowledged Knowles’s contributions, who was absent from the ceremony.
Knowles is coming off a national championship run with Ohio State, which included a victory over Penn State in the regular season in which the Penn State offense was flustered on multiple occasions in terrific scoring opportunities. Ohio State’s defense ranked first in the nation in total defense by averaging 254.6 yards per game allowed. Ohio State also led the nation in scoring defense by allowing just 12.9 points per game during the 2024 season.
Penn State’s defensive numbers have fared quite well with top-10 numbers in total defense and scoring defense, but the addition of Knowles is a home run hire for a program in need of a defensive coordinator.
Knowles will be filling the vacancy left by Tom Allen, a former head coach of Indiana who spent one year leading the Penn State defense. Allen accepted a job offer from Clemson to be the defensive coordinator for the defending ACC champions.
Knowles is a Philadelphia native and has made stops as defensive coordinator with Western Michigan, Duke, and Oklahoma State…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/penn-state-finalizing-contract-defensive-192701584.html
Author : Nittany Lions Wire
Publish date : 2025-01-26 19:27:00
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