Tennessee to hire former Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles

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Former Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles is on the move again. After leading a defense that helped win a College Football Playoff national championship for the Buckeyes, then leaving to become the defensive coordinator at Penn State, he was staring at being without a job because of the firing of Penn State head coach James Franklin.

Now, it appears as though Tennessee is looking to hire the former Oklahoma State, turned Ohio State, turned Penn State defensive coordinator to be its next defensive guru.

Knowles was known as one of the best defensive coordinators in the game when he was lured away from Oklahoma State to OSU in 2021. His defenses took a bit to really take hold, but Ohio State was statistically the best defense in the country in 2024 when it went on to win the national championship. His reputation took a bit of a hit at Penn State this season because of some struggles on that side of the ball, but the Vols are searching for a new "head coach of the defense" themselves after firing their defensive coordinator, Tim Banks.

This move has not yet been made official. When and if it is, we'll have more on it.

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This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: Former Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles to Tennessee

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