Penn State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles wasn’t at his old team’s national championship parade Sunday afternoon was because they asked him not to attend.
Per a report by Brett McMurphy of The Action Network, Ohio State asked Knowles not to attend the celebration “while he deliberated his options,” per source.
Ohio State DC Jim Knowles was asked by school not to attend Buckeyes’ national title celebration while he deliberated his options, source said. Knowles’ representation tried to reach deal w/OSU week before title game & immediately after, but eventual offer was “well below” the…
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) January 27, 2025
“Knowles’ representation tried to reach deal w/OSU week before title game & immediately after, but eventual offer was ‘well below’ the competition, source said,” McMurphy wrote.
This is interesting. Days before Knowles took the Penn State job, it was reported that Ohio State was prepared to make Knowles the highest-paid DC in the country. That would have meant he’d have to make at least more than Michigan DC Wink Martindale’s $2.5 million. Regardless of what Ohio State offered him, he’s at Penn State now.
TROUBLE IN PARADISE
Jim Knowles/USA Today
There was some trouble in paradise with Knowles at Ohio State. The main issue was how Knowles got along with Larry Johnson Sr. Nittany Sports Now can confirm that, for one reason or another, the two just didn’t mesh. Johnson, who’s in his early 70s, has been Ohio State’s defensive line coach and assistant head coach since 2014. Before that, he was Penn State’s defensive line coach from 2000-13. PSU’s staff doesn’t have an equal to Johnson in terms of experience. The closest one is probably safeties coach/co-DC Anthony Poindexter, and apparently, Poindexter is fine with Knowles coming in. Maybe that means things with be smoother behind the scenes for Knowles at Penn State.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Penn State fans hope that, if the team wins a national title next January, Knowles will attend the parade.
AN ALTERNATE REALITY
COLUMBUS, OH – APRIL 13: Ohio State Buckeyes defensive coordinator Jim Knowles walking into Ohio Stadium before the Ohio State Spring Game at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio on April 13, 2024. (Photo by Jason Mowry/Icon Sportswire)
There’s an alternate universe somewhere where Knowles didn’t stay at Ohio State nor pick Penn State. Knowles, who coached at Oklahoma State and whose fiancée is from Oklahoma, reportedly reached out to head coach Brent Venables soon after the OU DC job became open. Knowles was also linked to the Notre Dame DC job in the days following Al Golden’s departure for the same position with the Bengals.
How close exactly the Knowles come to leaving for Oklahoma or Notre Dame? It’s hard to say. But regardless, he’s going to Penn State.
PSU opens its 2025 season against Nevada Aug. 30 at Beaver Stadium.
