Penn State lures defensive coordinator Jim Knowles away from Ohio State

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Penn State has lured Jim Knowles away from Ohio State.

The Nittany Lions hired Knowles on Monday to serve as their defensive coordinator. Knowles held the same position with the national champion Buckeyes for three years.

Knowles replaces Tom Allen, who left to take the same job with Clemson after Penn State fell to Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff semifinals.

Ohio State had the top-ranked defense in the country in 2024. The Buckeyes held opponents to 254 yards while going 14-2 and earning the program's second national championship of the playoff era.

While Penn State will lose several starters off a defense that finished seventh in the FBS in yards allowed — including Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Abdul Carter, who is heading to the NFL — defensive linemen Zane Durant and Dani Dennis-Sutton, linebacker Tony Rojas and cornerback A.J. Harris will return.

Penn State head coach James Franklin called Knowles “a strong strategist and excellent defensive mind.”

The hiring is a homecoming of sorts for Knowles, who grew up in the Philadelphia area. He played collegiately at Cornell before going into coaching. Previous coaching stops include Duke, Oklahoma State and Mississippi.

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The Associated Press