The Penn State Nittany Lions fell just short of a national championship appearance in 2024, losing to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the College Football Playoff semifinal. After the heartbreaking loss, Penn State lost defensive coordinator Tom Allen to the Clemson Tigers and, in turn, hired Jim Knowles away from Ohio State.
Head coach James Franklin says Knowles is introducing some technique tweaks to the Nittany Lions’ defense heading into 2025.
James Franklin Details Defensive Shift Under New DC Jim Knowles
Knowles led the Ohio State defense to a national championship last season. The unit allowed the fewest yards per game in the country and was one of college football’s most consistent and dominant groups.
This offseason, Penn State managed to lure Knowles away from the Buckeyes to take the same position in Happy Valley. In his fall camp press conference, head coach James Franklin shared that Knowles was drawn to the job in part because of Penn State’s strong defensive tradition.
“We’ve been fortunate, I think we’ve had four defensive coordinators here, every single one of them has had a top ten defense at Penn State, so I think that was attractive to Jim,” Franklin said.
Now that Knowles is in charge of the Nittany Lions’ defense, Franklin said the veteran coordinator is already implementing some technique adjustments, particularly with how the linebackers operate up front.
“There are some technique changes up front, in terms of how they’ll play blocks,” Franklin said. “There’s some changes with the linebackers, again with Manny [Diaz], attack front, we were gapped out. Linebackers had a gap responsibility, and this defense requires the linebackers to play more of a traditional linebacker, read things out a little bit more.”
Put simply, Penn State’s linebackers used to have specific gap assignments, which meant they had to attack their assigned gap right away — no matter what the offense was doing. In Knowles’ system, that changes.
Linebackers will take a more patient approach, reading the play first before making a move. It’s a small adjustment, but it reflects the defensive philosophy Knowles has followed throughout his career.
It worked well for Knowles at Ohio State last season. Sonny Styles and Cody Simon topped 100 tackles in 2024, with each recording double-digit tackles for loss. That kind of production shows just how effective this approach can be.
The Nittany Lions have plenty of talent at linebacker in 2025 with Amare Campbell, Tony Rojas, and Dominic DeLuca leading the way. With Knowles’ technique shift in place, this group should be set up to thrive all season long.
