{"id":72147,"date":"2025-02-02T09:00:33","date_gmt":"2025-02-02T14:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=72147"},"modified":"2025-09-20T14:33:00","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T18:33:00","slug":"penn-states-knowles-impact-beyond-the-xs-and-os","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2025\/02\/02\/penn-states-knowles-impact-beyond-the-xs-and-os\/","title":{"rendered":"Penn State’s Knowles Impact: Beyond the X’s and O’s"},"content":{"rendered":"

Penn State continued a busy offseason by quickly making the hiring of Jim Knowles<\/a> official.\u00a0 The veteran defensive coordinator from Ohio State took the same position with the Nittany Lions.\u00a0 His resume and the performance of his defenses speak for themselves.\u00a0 However, Knowles will have impacts on Penn State\u2019s program that reaches beyond the X\u2019s and O\u2019s.<\/p>\n

The Knowles Impact on Penn State: Beyond the X’s and O’s<\/h2>\n

Immediate Impact<\/h3>\n

The Knowles Effect should be impactful, and it should be immediate.\u00a0 On the field, the Penn State defense should still be a force to be reckoned with.\u00a0 Despite losing Abdul Carter<\/a>, who declared for the NFL Draft, the defense returns foundational pieces like Dani Dennis-Sutton<\/a> and Zane Durant<\/a> on the defensive line.\u00a0 Knowles has shown a penchant for developing defensive backs as well.\u00a0 The returns of Zakee Wheatley<\/a>, AJ Harris<\/a>, and Zion Tracy<\/a> will need to offset the loss of defensive backfield leaders KJ Winston (who suffered a long-term injury this past season) and Jaylen Reed.<\/p>\n

Off the field, the Knowles hire also brings a lot more opportunity.\u00a0 It is a chance for offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki and quarterback Drew Allar<\/a> to pick the brain of a coordinator who has shut down the Penn State offense multiple times.\u00a0 It also gives Franklin a lot more to talk about on the recruiting trail.\u00a0 The top defensive coordinator in college football is now with Penn State, and with that addition, the pressure is increasing to win now.<\/p>\n

WWJD<\/h3>\n

It is no secret that the key to the offense heading into next season is quarterback Drew Allar.\u00a0 Allar\u2019s pure talent is undeniable.\u00a0 However, his stats have been padded by his performances against lesser opponents.\u00a0 Similar to criticisms of head coach James Franklin\u2019s record, a knock on Allar has been his performance against the top teams, teams like Ohio State.<\/p>\n

Enter Knowles, who has orchestrated defenses that have shut down Allar.\u00a0 This past season, Allar completed 12 of 20 passes for 146 yards, with no touchdowns and an interception against the Buckeyes<\/a>.\u00a0 In 2023, against Ohio State, Allar completed 18 of 42 attempts for 191 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions.\u00a0 Clearly, Knowles had a superior game plan compared to Penn State\u2019s offense.<\/p>\n

No longer do Allar and\u00a0 Kotelnicki have to wonder \u201cWhat would Jim do?\u201d to shut down Allar and the offense.\u00a0 Now, they can walk across the hall and ask.\u00a0 Prior defensive coordinators Manny Diaz and Tom Allen (who left for Clemson<\/a>) could have given some perspectives.\u00a0 However, in Knowles, Penn State now has a proven coordinator who has made Allar and the offense look pedestrian multiple times.<\/p>\n

Recruiting Impact<\/h3>\n

There is no doubt that Penn State is in \u201cwin now\u201d mode.\u00a0 Bringing in Knowles proves that.\u00a0 His salary averages above $3 million annually.\u00a0 This resets the market for college coordinators.\u00a0 However, there is more than just the money for Knowles, and that will help in building the program to not only win now but also move forward successfully into the future.<\/p>\n

Franklin can use the arrival of Knowles to boost recruiting.\u00a0 There are a lot of talking points that open up with his arrival.\u00a0 The top-rated defensive coordinator in the country picked Penn State, so top recruits may want to follow him.\u00a0 Not only that, but he also chose Penn State over the rival (and competitive recruiters) Ohio State.\u00a0 Playing in a Knowles defense, in Beaver Stadium during a White Out, will be another appealing aspect for recruits.<\/p>\n

It was also personal for Knowles, and growing up in the Philadelphia area meant that Penn State carried extra weight in his decision-making process.\u00a0 This should resonate with Pennsylvania recruits.\u00a0 There have been too many Pennsylvania football stars that have gone elsewhere.\u00a0 As a recent example, Marvin Harrison, Jr.<\/a> went from growing up in Philadelphia to Ohio State.\u00a0 The arrival of Knowles, and his story, could help keep more Pennsylvania talent in-state at State College.\u00a0 Of course, there is a bit of a track record of players going in the opposite direction too.\u00a0 Allar is from Medina, Ohio.\u00a0 The arrival of Knowles could open up a lot more on the recruiting on the program-building front, beyond the X’s and O’s.<\/p>\n

Main Photo: Adam Cairns\/Columbus Dispatch \/ USA TODAY NETWORK<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Penn State continued a busy offseason by quickly making the hiring of Jim Knowles official.\u00a0 The veteran defensive coordinator from Ohio State took the same position with the Nittany Lions.\u00a0 His resume and the performance of his defenses speak for themselves.\u00a0 However, Knowles will have impacts on Penn State\u2019s program that reaches beyond the X\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5172,"featured_media":72167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,10906,2,35610],"tags":[32817,8711,837,3406,395,309,1073],"class_list":["post-72147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bigten","category-cfb","category-featured","category-penn-state-nittany-lions","tag-andy-kotelnicki","tag-donovan-hinish","tag-james-franklin","tag-jim-knowles","tag-manny-diaz","tag-penn-state-nittany-lions","tag-tom-allen"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5172"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72147"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72147\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72169,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72147\/revisions\/72169"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}