By SCOTT FELTS
Apparently, it wasn’t just Tennessee Vols fans that wanted the bad taste of the Vanderbilt loss out of their mouths. Tennessee head football coach Josh Heupel has been busy since the late November loss to the Vols’ in-state rivals. He’s put together a consensus top five recruiting class for 2026. He fired the much-maligned defensive coordinator Tim Banks. On Thursday, Heupel hired former Penn State and Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles to take the same position on Rocky Top.
Knowles, a former defensive end from Cornell University, began his now 39-year coaching career as defensive line coach, running back coach, linebacker coach, and recruiting coordinator before moving on to Western Michigan, then Ole Miss, where he coached under former Tennessee offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe as linebacker coach and recruiting coordinator for the Rebels.
After just one year with Cutcliffe, Knowles returned to his alma mater, where he was head coach of Cornell from 2004 to 2009. After amassing an overall record of 26-34, Knowles returned to work for Cutcliffe — this time at Duke, where he coached safeties and linebackers while serving as defensive coordinator, a position he’s held for 17 straight years.
In 2018 Knowles moved on to Oklahoma State, where he stayed through 2021 before joining Ohio State in 2022 and remaining with the Buckeyes through last season and their College Football Playoff National Championship. Penn State hired Knowles away in February 2025, but after James Franklin was fired in midseason, Heupel made the move to bring Knowles to Knoxville.
Knowles has had great success and accumulated many accolades from his time as defensive coordinator in major college football. He took the Duke from the 108th ranked defense to 21st in his final season in Durham in 2017. That year he was also in the top 25 in seven defensive categories, including scoring and total defense. Since that 2017 season, Knowles leads the nation in hard stop percentage, which includes turnovers, three and outs, and fourth down stops.
At Oklahoma State, Knowles improved the Cowboys’ defense over four seasons from 112th to fourth nationally in scoring defense. His 2020 defense led the FBS in third down defense and tied for the national lead in defensive touchdowns. Knowles had the No. 9 scoring defense and Bo. 5 total defense in 2021, leading the Big 12 in both statistical categories. His first year in Stillwater saw the Cowboys win four games over top 25 teams including two in the top 10 (No. 6 Texas and No. 7 West Virginia) while ranking in the top 20 in the FBS in sacks per game and tackles for loss per game. In 2020 Oklahoma State’s third down conversion percentage allowed set a school record. That group also ranked eighth nationally in fumble recoveries, ninth in tackles for loss per game, and 16th in sacks per game. The 2021 Cowbiys D led the Big 12 and ranked in the top five in the FBS in sacks (1st), tackles for loss (2nd), third down defense (2nd), total defense (5th), and rushing defense (5th).
All Knowles did at Ohio State in his three years was have the top defense in the country in scoring defense, total defense, and third down efficiency after taking over the 59th-ranked defense in the country. In 2024 en route to the national championship, the Buckeyes led the country in scoring defense, total defense, yards allowed, and red zone touchdown percentage. They ranked second in sacks, passing touchdowns per game, and red zone scoring percentage. They were third in rushing defense, passing defense, and sacks per game.
The year before in Columbus, Knowles’ defense ranked third nationally in total defense, first in pass defense, and 18th against the run.
Often rumored to have a complicated defense that was hard to learn, Knowles disproved those rumors when, in his first season with the Buckeyes in 2022, they improved 45 spots in total defense, 14 spots in scoring defense, 70 spots in passing defense, and climbed two spots in rushing defense.
As for the man Knowles is replacing, during Banks’ first year at Tennessee, the defense allowed 29 points per game and ranked outside the top 90 in the FBS in total defense. By 2024 Banks’ defense was among the top 10 nationally in scoring defense and yards allowed per game. The Vols’ regression in 2025 however likely cost him his job. Tennessee was back to allowing 29 points and nearly 400 yards per game which were both in the bottom 40 nationally.
Whereas Banks took a bad defense and made it good for two years, but fell apart when the talent left. Knowles consistently builds top five, often top overall defensive units. It suggests that Knowles’ floor is higher than Banks’ ceiling.
Here’s what players and coaches who have worked with Knowles had to say about him:
Jack Sawyer, Ohio State DE, 2024: “Coach Knowles is an evil genius, man. The way he disguises stuff, offenses have no clue what’s coming. He’s always three steps ahead.”
Cody Simon, Ohio State LB after the 2024 national championship: “Best defensive mind I’ve ever been around. He put you in perfect position every single play. You just play fast because you already know what they’re trying to do.”
Denzel Burke, Ohio State CB, 2024: “He’s a wizard. He calls the play before the offense even snaps it sometimes. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Coaches he has worked for have good things to say as well.
Mike Gundy, who was dismissed this past season after 20-plus years at Oklahoma State said, “Losing Jim is the biggest staff loss we’ve ever had here. That 2021 defense, which was top three nationally, was all him.”
Ryan Day, the current Ohio State coach, said, “ Jim is the best defensive mind I’ve ever been around. Hands-down.”
When introducing Knowles as part of the staff at Penn State, James Franklin said, “I’ve competed against Jim‘s defenses for years. They’re always the hardest to game plan for in the country. That’s why he was my number one target the second the job opened.”
One interesting thing of note is that at each stop Knowles has been defensive coordinator, he has almost always inherited his staff. He only brings off-field analysts with him — the most notable being Koy McFarland, who traveled with him from Duke to Oklahoma State to Ohio State. At Duke, Knowles’ staff included Manny Diaz, Derek Mason, and Charlie Harbison. McFarland, who stayed at Ohio State and was promoted to safeties coach, could be a name to watch if the Vols want to move on from Willie Martinez.
We will never really know if Knowles was Josh Heupel‘s number one target or not. There was a lot of talk about Washington’s defensive coordinator Ryan Walters. Maybe Heupel reached out to him simply because they had a past, as a courtesy. Regardless of how Heupel settled on Knowles, he appears to have made a strong decision hiring a veteran defensive mind that’s used to coaching for offensive-minded play-calling head coaches. Next year’s schedule won’t be easy but with this and likely other moves to be made this offseason, Tennessee appears to be moving in the right direction to once again compete for a playoff spot.