Tennessee Football made a splash move before the postseason by firing defensive coordinator Tim Banks and hiring Jim Knowles to fill the vacant position. Knowles, a veteran assistant coach in the college football landscape, served as Penn State’s DC during the 2025 season. Prior to that, he was with Ohio State for three seasons and helped orchestrate the Buckeyes’ championship-winning defense in 2024.
With linebackers coach William Inge serving as the Vols’ interim defensive coordinator for the Music City Bowl on Tuesday, Knowles has been in an evaluation period with the Vols as he decides the first moves that he will make once he officially takes over. One of those moves, according to a report from On3 Sports’ Pete Nakos on Sunday, appears to be keeping veteran defensive line coach Rodney Garner on the staff.
Knowles will also be evaluating the Tennessee defensive roster and will certainly have a hand in transfer portal additions. While we don’t have any indication of who Tennessee will target out of the portal, perhaps Knowles looks to one of his former Penn State players at some point.
So far, four former Penn State defensive players reportedly have intentions to enter the portal. According to On3’s portal tracker, those players include cornerback Elliot Washington II, EDGE rusher Chaz Coleman, cornerback A.J. Harris, and EDGE rusher Zuriah Fisher.
Coleman will be a very high-priority target for teams in the portal based on his true freshman season with the Nittany Lions. He earned a 78.5 season grade from Pro Football Focus and, despite missing some time with injury in November, proved to be a top-notch freshman in the league. Coleman had a particularly standout showing in the Nittany Lions’ loss to Ohio State with a 90.6 game grade from PFF.
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Washington, a former four-star prospect in the 2023 recruiting class, had 18 tackles, three pass breakups, and one interception during the 2025 season. In three years with Penn State, he’s totaled 53 tackles, nine pass breakups, and two interceptions.
Another former four-star cornerback in the portal is A.J. Harris, who began his career with Georgia in 2023 before spending the last two seasons with Penn State. In 2025, he had 33 tackles, one tackle for loss, and one fumble recovery. In 34 career games, Harris has 89 tackles, five tackles for loss, one fumble recovery, six pass breakups, and one interception.
The final and most recent defensive player to enter the portal is EDGE rusher Zuriah Fisher. The 6-foot-3 lineman has played 35 games in five seasons with the Nittany Lions. He’s racked up 41 tackles, seven tackles for loss, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery. Fisher started 11 games for the Nittany Lions in 2025, tallying 19 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, and one forced fumble.
Fisher will have one season of eligibility remaining, but needs a medical redshirt waiver from the NCAA, according to On3.
Tennessee may or may not end up pursuing any of these Penn State prospects, but it is an interesting storyline to follow considering Knowles’ previous ties to the Nittany Lions during the 2025 season. The Vols have some important decisions to make when the portal officially opens up on Jan. 2, and we’ll get a better idea of where Tennessee chooses to spend its money once that happens.
“You look at his track record of success, building defenses that play at a championship level, being able to do it multiple spots, do it in a way that fits the personnel that’s there and that you can recruit to,” Tennessee HC Josh Heupel said of Knowles in December. “Subtly being different at the different places that he’s been. And the ability to tie all three levels of it together and play really good defense.”
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for more transfer portal news.
