Penn State reportedly going all-out to poach defensive coordinator from Big Ten rival

Jim Knowles has quite the resume in college football and on Monday night he added a national championship to it. The 59-year-old defensive coordinator led the Ohio State Buckeyes to the No. 1 defense in the country this season and now he’s the belle of the offseason ball.

Knowles, the highest-paid assistant on Ryan Day’s staff making $2.2 million a year, is being pursued by three historic programs that have all submitted big money offers. Penn State, Oklahoma, and Notre Dame need DCs with Tom Allen leaving Happy Valley for Clemson, Zac Alley fleeing Norman for Morgantown, and Al Golden taking on the challenge of fixing the Cincinnati Bengals defense. With Ohio State still in the mix to keep Knowles the four college football blue-bloods have driven the price way up.

Wednesday, I wrote that Knowles may be out of Penn State’s price range. The program was paying Allen just $1.5 million to be the defensive coordinator last season while Ohio State is paying over $2 million for each of its coordinators and has wide receiver coach Brian Hartline on the staff for $1.6 million a year, but apparently, price isn’t standing in the Nittany Lions way. Penn State has reportedly put together a package for Knowles that would be worth $3.2 million a year, by far the most the program has ever paid an assistant coach.

After knocking on the door of the national title game with his first College Football Playoff appearance, James Franklin retained the core of his veteran-laden roster, keeping Drew Allar, Nicholas Singleton, Kaytron Allen, and others in blue and white for their final seasons of eligibility. That offseason success has increased the pressure on Franklin to finally win “the big one” which has eluded him for his 11-year tenure. That pressure, along with Knowles’ historic success in Columbus, explains the willingness to more than double what the program was paying for its defensive coordinator, but even that price doesn’t guarantee his services.

Oklahoma has reportedly also offered $3 million a year to Knowles and has been very confident about landing the former Oklahoma State assistant throughout the entire process. There is also always the chance that Ohio State shells out to keep him on the staff for its national title defense and Notre Dame is a wild card. With so many deep-pocketed programs in the mix, it’s hard to have any confidence that Knowles will end up in Happy Valley.

There isn’t a better defensive coordinator on the market and if Franklin and the program can poach Knowles from Day’s staff, it would be a heist no matter the cost. This report means there is real fire to the smoke surrounding Penn State’s pursuit, but it’s far from a sure thing.