Tennessee football officially announced the hire of Jim Knowles as its new defensive coordinator on Thursday afternoon. Knowles is one of the most accomplished defensive coordinators in the country and comes to Knoxville after spending the last 16 years at various power five schools.
Knowles spent last season at Penn State and the three previous seasons at Ohio State where he led the nation’s top defense in 2024 on the way to the national championship. In three years in Columbus, Knowles led a top 25 defense all three years including two that ranked in the nation’s top five.
Six of Knowles’ 16 defenses have ranked in the top 25 nationally of scoring defense including three at Ohio State, one at Oklahoma State and two at Duke. Knowles’ first year at a school is almost always his worse season and he’s never had a defense rank in the top 40 nationally of turnovers forced.
Here’s a look at Jim Knowles’ defenses by the numbers.
More From RTI: How Much Will Jim Knowles Make As Tennessee Football’s Defensive Coordinator?
Glossary: PPG (points per game), YPG (yards per game), RYPG (rushing yards per game), PYPG (passing yards per game), TOPG (turnovers per game)
All ranks are nationally out of 136 teams
Penn State
2025 – 37th in PPG, 34th in YPG, 72nd in RYPG, 22nd in PYPG, 96th in TOPG
Ohio State
2024 – 1st in PPG, 1st in YPG, 3rd in RYPG, 3rd in PYPG, 88th in TOPG
2023 – 2nd in PPG, 3rd in YPG, 29th in RYPG, 1st in PYPG, 126th in TOPG
2022 – 24th in PPG, 14th in YPG, 25th in RYPG, 26th in PYPG, 77nd in TOPG
Oklahoma State
2021 – 9th in PPG, 5th in YPG, 5th in RYPG, 36th in PYPG, 54th in TOPG
2020 – 34th in PPG, 44th in YPG, 58th in RYPG, 47th in PYPG, 60th in TOPG
2019 – 61st in PPG, 82d in YPG, 67th in RYPG, 102nd in PYPG, 55th in TOPG
2018 – 97th in PPG, 112th in YPG, 86th in RYPG, 118th in PYPG, 120th in TOPG
Duke
2017 – 22nd in PPG, 21st in YPG, 48th in RYPG, 16th in PYPG, 59th in TOPG
2016 – 66th in PPG, 67th in YPG, 66th in RYPG, 78th in PYPG, 63rd in TOPG
2015 – 47th in PPG, 61st in YPG, 48th in RYPG, 89th in PYPG, 80th in TOPG
2014 – 24th in PPG, 69th in YPG, 93rd in RYPG, 35th in PYPG, 67th in TOPG
2013 – 65th in PPG, 83rd in YPG, 76th in RYPG, 84th in PYPG, 43rd in TOPG
2012 – 110th in PPG, 108th in YPG, 103rd in RYPG, 104th in PYPG, 62nd in TOPG
2011 – 90th in PPG, 92nd in YPG, 85th in RYPG, 84th in PYPG, 117th in TOPG
2010 – 109th in PPG, 108th in YPG, 113th in RYPG, 96th in PYPG, 97th in TOPG
