Penn State Poaches Rival Ohio State DC With Record $9.3M Deal

Less than three weeks after falling to Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff semifinals, Penn State is pushing its chips in to chase a national championship next season.

The Nittany Lions have hired Jim Knowles as defensive coordinator on a three-year, $3.1 million per year deal which will make him the NCAA’s highest-paid coordinator, according to NBC Sports college football insider Nicole Auerbach. The average annual value would be in the top 60 of NCAA head coach salaries last season, based on USA Today’s database. 

Knowles, a Philadelphia native, was the Ohio State defensive coordinator from 2022 to 2025. He reportedly chose the Nittany Lions over offers from Oklahoma and a chance to return to the 2025 national champion Buckeyes, which had one of the best defenses in the country last season.

Penn State, which entered the first expanded playoff format as the No. 6 seed, had one of the best defenses in the nation last season under Tom Allen—who left to be the DC at Clemson—ranking top 10 in the nation in opponent points.

Knowles will not have the services of standout defensive end Abdul Carter, who is projected to be the first defensive player off the board in the 2025 NFL draft, but the defense is still expected to be one of the best in the nation, led by another defensive end, incoming senior Dani Dennis-Sutton.

The offense is also filled with key players returning for their senior year, including quarterback Drew Allar and running backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen. Penn State was able to retain offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, who was reportedly under consideration to be the head coach at West Virginia.

Penn State has the fifth-best odds (+850) to become next season’s national champions behind Ohio State, Texas, Oregon, and Georgia, according to FanDuel.