Las Vegas Join them if you can’t defeat them. Or at least take something useful from them that might work in your favor.
That’s one way to look at why James Franklin, the head coach of Penn State, hired Jim Knowles from Ohio State to organize his 2025 defense.
Is that oversimplifying things? Yes. Obviously, both sides considered other factors before making that choice. This offseason, Franklin had to find a new defensive coordinator after losing Tom Allen to Clemson for the same position. Knowles won a national championship in 2024 after spending three years revitalizing the Buckeyes defense. It was time to return home and attempt the same task.
Having served as a top defensive coordinator at several different schools, Franklin claimed that his team had the best defense in college football for the previous two seasons and had recently won a national championship. His home state is Pennsylvania. His hometown is Philadelphia. It’s a huge acquisition, of course, and he’s been fantastic.
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Knowles is widely recognized as one of the top defensive coordinators in the country. Ryan Day brought him to Columbus in 2022 for that purpose. The Nittany Lions had the opportunity to see why he was so well-liked for three years.
J.T. Tuimoloau was the highlight of the game, putting up one of the best defensive efforts in college football ever, even if PSU did manage to score 31 points in 2022.
Penn State was unable to accomplish much in the following two games, averaging 4.21 yards per play and only managing 15 points with one offensive touchdown.
The quarterbackAgainst Knowles, Drew Allar has played some of his worst games as a starter. Only 48.4% of his throws were completed for 337 yards, a garbage-time touchdown pass, and an interception during those defeats.
Allar and the entire Penn State offense were so well-figured out by Knowles that OSU could have a day on offense that was just marginally better than average and still win.
For a third consecutive year, one could say that Franklin hired him away to keep it from happening. He had the opportunity to learn how he accomplished it as well. And Allar has benefited from that more than anyone else.
“He brought over a couple of guys from Ohio State, and I was able to sit down with them and just relax and watch the game from last year,” Allar said. Really comprehend their philosophies behind the names they were using and the offenses that I (and) we had. I could see the scouting report they had on me and other men thanks to him. Although I was aware that there were certain things I needed to improve on, the feedback was overwhelmingly good. In order to prevent those things from happening, I’m attempting to use the places that appeared on film to my advantage this year.
Since I believe the defense will be the greatest in the nation and I am aware that our offensive goal is to be the best in the nation, I am very excited to face them at fall camp. It will be a lot of pleasure to be able to defy them every day. There will undoubtedly be difficult days, but they will ultimately be worthwhile throughout the season.
Franklin also benefited. Knowles gave him a new, objective viewpoint on what they were and weren’t accomplishing while also demonstrating to him exactly how he dissected his offense. He saw the benefit of that.
We all benefit from it. We always conduct self-scouts, but you’re honest because you’re friends, but occasionally you sugarcoat certain things,” Franklin remarked. Before he joined our offensive, he evaluated us and our personnel, and we were able to obtain his Ohio State game plan and provide it to us. Going back to see the game with him, our offensive staff, Drew, and all of these people was incredibly important.
incredibly valuable. However, it is similar to everything else. You need to be willing to listen, hear, and accept the information you’re receiving in order to appreciate its value. You also want to ask challenging questions and gain feedback. That’s what our program does. As a program, we constantly have open, sincere discussions with one another.
Knowles has two reasons for leaving a team with which he recently won a national title to join one with which he has been playing for three years. As a native of Pennsylvania who grew up cheering for the Nittany Lions, this is his homecoming. The choice is as much a personal one as a professional one.
One of the individuals most in charge of preventing that from occurring gives Penn State a special tutorial on how to defeat Ohio State.
When Knowles comes to Columbus as Public Enemy No. 1, Franklin, Allar, and everyone else will discover whether or not those lessons were worthwhile on November 1.
Franklin said that Jim had a reason for coming here. Penn State drew his attention. The prospect excites us. Although we still have a lot of work to do, it has been enjoyable thus far.
