Penn State has installed Jim Knowles’ defense at 'rapid pace,’ with a few big changes coming

STATE COLLEGE — Jim Knowles has quickly made his presence known at Penn State.

He carries a calm, quiet demeanor as he observes practices, noting everything he likes and doesn’t to pass it on to his position coaches. But when he wants to command a room, he can do so with little issue.

Players have taken to his leadership style over the past few months, as junior linebacker Tony Rojas said at Penn State media day.

When Knowles speaks, they listen. He’s driven them to study the playbook even harder than before. And if there’s a mistake on a play, they’ll do it over with no leniency for minor missteps.

“Seeing him, it kind of reminds me of Manny (Diaz). Just a mastermind,” Rojas said. “Sits back, and he knows what’s wrong, what’s right in the play, and he could just notice like that.”

Knowles’ ethos has built up over his five stints as defensive coordinator at different schools, including at Ohio State the past three seasons, where he won a national championship. With each move, the 60-year-old feels he’s gotten much better at teaching his scheme.

Penn State has reaped the benefits of that experience in a big way. The Nittany Lions have less than a week’s worth of practices under their belt this fall, but the coaching staff feels they’re in a good spot with Knowles’ install ahead of a season with championship aspirations.

“Particularly coming into a situation like this, our charge is to be great now,” Knowles said. “So if it’s too complicated or I can’t get it installed in a way that the players pick it up quickly, then that’s my fault. I think I’ve developed a process that helps move it along at a more rapid pace.”

Knowles said his defense is complicated. He added, though, that it has to be. College offenses run many different schemes, as opposed to today’s NFL in which most teams have the same general approach. In college, Knowles has to have answers for anything they might see.

Knowles’ answers largely come from a 4-2-5 scheme, similar to that of James Franklin’s previous hires like Diaz, Tom Allen and Brent Pry. Each of those play callers continued a strong history of defensive success at Penn State, earning top-eight finishes nationally in scoring defense at least once. The similarity was attractive to Knowles, Franklin said, and it’s helped with such a “rapid” rate of installation.

But there will be differences with Knowles in town — beyond just figuring out which verbiage can stay from Allen’s time and what needs to be changed.

Penn State may not play quite as much man coverage this season, though it will still be mixed in. Knowles prides his groups on disguising coverages and confusing opposing quarterbacks at the line of scrimmage.

Franklin also said Knowles’ linebackers will move away from playing gap-dependent schemes, opting for more traditional reading and reacting to offensive movement.

Penn State had also run what Franklin deemed an “attack front” with frequent blitzes and aggressive defensive line play. Knowles has his ends rushing most often from a wide alignment, and the Nittany Lions may take on blocks with a bit of a different strategy.

“There are going to be two or three games a year where you just can’t line up and play man,” Franklin said. “That coverage diversity will be important for us moving forward. Those things were a lot of things that that me and Jim discussed before he came.”

Knowles said he’s been especially impressed with the rate of install thus far considering Penn State was, for various reasons, without veteran starters Zane Durant, Dani Dennis-Sutton, A.J. Harris and Rojas for much of the spring.

Meanwhile, Franklin — who landed Knowles on a massive contract with a dogged pursuit this offseason — made sure to preface his praise for a quick install with one thing: He hopes this is Knowles’ last time doing it at a new place.