Tennessee football is going to look very different on defense next season. After a disappointing year on that side of the ball, Josh Heupel fired Tim Banks and hired Jim Knowles.
Now, for the first time since taking the job with the Vols, Knowles fielded questions. He appeared on The Mike Keith Show and was asked about his upbringing, principles of his defense, personnel and more.
Here’s what he said.
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On if being a Philadelphia native comes through in his coaching style all these years later
“That’s fair. I’ve worked hard to lose the accent, but every now and then, I can get into a ‘Yo, Philly.’ But, yeah, I mean, I grew up in a really inner-city environment where there wasn’t any grass and it was, when I first started to play little guys football it really changed my life. Because it was a trip to somehow get to the field actually to find the grass in the city. And then the coaches had such a huge impact on really aligning my life and (I) fell in love with the game and it kept me out of a lot of trouble in the streets of Philly. But yeah, it’ll always be a part of me.”
On playing at Cornell and starting his coaching career there, another journey that shaped him as a person and a coach
“Absolutely. And I wasn’t quite good enough to get recruited at Tennessee, but I played. But I had great grades and I went to St. Joe’s Prep, a high school that geared you towards college, which was new for me and my family. And ended up getting recruited by the Ivy League, but chose Cornell because it was so different from the environment that I was brought up in, exactly as you described it.
“It was a college town. But it exposed me to a lot of things that I would not have received had I stayed in the city. And I was recruited by a guy named Maxie Baughan, who was a legendary college and NFL player. And he kind of got me on the path of coaching after I graduated. Spent a brief time in the business world, and then he got me back to coaching, which is something I love. And I feel like I haven’t worked a day in my life.”
On working for Jim Hohfer at Cornell after Hohfer was Tennessee’s quarterbacks coach in 1989
“Coach Hohfer, he was a young head coach at Cornell and I was a young assistant, so I really tried to emulate him. And his experience at Tennessee was fantastic. And yeah, Tennessee football has kind of been in the background of my entire coaching career.”
On working for Gary Darnell at Western Michigan, how much Darnell shaped his defensive philosophy
“Yeah, a ton. Coach Darnell, he had all of that experience, that major college football experience that I didn’t have. Because I was coming, at the time, from the Ivy League to the Mid-American Conference, so he was able to show me some things and, how things operated at the highest level. And together we really created this whole 4-2-5 when it was just coming into play. He had ties to Gary Patterson, so you’re talking about 25 years ago, Coach Darnell, Gary Patterson had worked for him so we got to spend a lot of time with Gary Patterson. And we formulated it our way off of what Coach Patterson did and Coach Darnell’s input.”
On how David Cutcliffe had an impact on him at Ole Miss
“Coach Cutcliffe is like a father to me. And his relationship with Tennessee and Peyton Manning was always talked about. And he loved it here. And I’ve heard all about how great the people are, down to all the fantastic equipment people and all the people in the background. Coach Cut always spoke so highly of that. And he had a major influence in my life in terms of how to leave a place better than you found it. We were at Duke, and a good carpenter doesn’t complain about his tools. I mean, I have all these David Cutcliffe sayings that run through my mind all the time. And I have definitely kept in touch with him over the years. He’s been a, a big supporter of my career. And even though he was an offensive guy, he and I sat down during my time at Duke and really continued to work on what I did defensively and I got a lot of great input from Coach Cut.”
On why he picked Tennessee to continue his career as a defensive coordinator and why now
“Well, my daughter went to school here. She’s 30 now and married. But she’s always been my biggest fan. So her and I kind of had a silent pact or hope that someday I would coach here. And as it all started to come together, she was sending me Rocky Top videos and she was just over-the-top excited. So I felt like that was something that was in the stars, you know?
“But getting to know Coach Heupel, from the first time I arrived here and spending time with Coach and his wife and, came down with my fiance, and it was the best experience I’ve ever had in terms of interviewing, looking at a job, just the way he came across. Very down to earth but yet serious at the same time. And he and I got to come over to the facilities, sit down, talk football. We did some Zooms. And I just have always been impressed with Coach’s leadership and kind of followed him from afar. But getting to spend time with him, talking football, hearing his philosophy on how to win, it definitely sold me.”
On how he used his time during Tennessee’s bowl prep to familiarize himself with the defensive personnel
“Yeah, I just got around the players. I began to develop some relationships but really just kind of saying hello to the players and watching them work. Watching a lot of video on the things that they did during their career here at Tennessee so I could begin to make evaluations and see those things that they did well and how they might fit into some of the things that I do. And got around the coaches but didn’t get involved in their game planning or get in their way. I guess I was just more of an observer and an evaluator while I was here.”
On Tennessee’s defense being rebuilt in both staff and player personnel, what’s most important to start that rebuild
“Staff alignment is critical. So I was able to bring a few people here. Keep some great coaches in Coach (Rodney) Garner and Coach (William) Inge. And then bring a lot of coaches in who already know what I do. That puts us ahead. I’ve done this now a couple times and haven’t really had that opportunity, so Coach Heupel wanted me to have that opportunity because it does advance your progress quickly. So making sure the staff is aligned. And we haven’t really had a chance to do that because of recruiting. But those hours spent in the room where we all know we’re on the same page and we’ll bring in the same message.
“And then there’s a standard at Tennessee. And I got back to, I put together a little recruiting tape myself and there’s a clip from Coach Heupel about what he expects from the defense at Tennessee, to be elite. The home of Reggie White. So I listened to that and I saw it and I’ve been showing it to recruits or transfer portal guys as they come into my office. It’s a 30-second clip, but that’s our charge. So we need to get hands on the players, particularly with the leadership, so that we’ll bring guys together as quickly as possible with, as you said, the new editions, the transfer portal. Before we even get into scheme, we have to make sure everybody understands that standard of playing elite defense at Tennessee.”
On how much it helps Tennessee’s new-look defense to have transfers from his Penn State defense
“It’s a big plus because they spent a year learning not only the system, but how I operate and my expectations. And they’ll be able to filter it down to the other guys. And I also know I’ve been hands on with those guys so I understand what they can do and where they need to get better.”
On if his base defense is still a 4-2-5
“Yeah, base 4-2-5. We’ll get into some 4-3 looks when needed based on personnel. We’ve been able over the years — haven’t done it recently — we’ve been able to create some problems with the offense with a package that looks a little bit more like a 3-3, but allows us to create some defensive line match-ups and take advantage of some things on defense. Play more offense on defense. Be more attacking. So I think we may have the guys here to do that, so it creates some different looks out of a 4-2-5. But it can look a little bit more like odd.”
On how he uses the LEO position both similarly and differently compared to other defensive schemes
“Yeah, if you go back and watch Oklahoma State and a little bit of my first year at Ohio State, you’ll see that there are some marked differences in terms of how we use him. Not to give away our whole hand, but there’s some multiplicity in things that we can do with him.”
On he characterization that the Jim Knowles defense is hard to learn
“Yeah, I’ve heard that. Not that I read those things, but people tell me that. So I think they’d go back and we’re working on that now. Every new opportunity that you have to install it, you got to find better ways. So I think part of being a great coach is being adjustable and adaptable and listening. A lot of guys get stuck in their ways. So if that’s what some players may have said, I have to take that into account. And we’re looking at ways to simplify things early on so we can make more progress quickly. Now, one of the things is having coaches who have been with me, which I haven’t had in the past, so that always takes time. And having some players that have been with me too. So I think we’ll be way ahead on both of those counts.”
On the characterization that his defense may have complex calls, but has simple premises
“It’s all about those fundamentals. And that’s really what we’re looking for. We want to look to the offense like we are complex, but really within our unit and within the building, everybody knows what to do. So I prefer that one. The presentation should look complex, but it’s really simple inside.”
On his defense being known for stopping the run
“Yeah, it all starts there. I mean, it’s maybe overused in football, but not many excel at it, right? You have to be able to do that. And to do that, you have to have answers, right? You’re not just going to be able to line up and whip people all the time. We want to do that and that’s what we work for. But you need to have other answers too. So I think that’s where it comes into play, is my job is to have an answer for everything that the offense does. I mean, if they’re hurting us with something, we have to be able to fix it. And you have to be able to do that immediately during a game. And that’s built over the course of time, but that- that’s on me.”
On the thought that his defense is able to make in-game adjustments better than most, if that comes down to philosophy and teaching
“Absolutely. That’s a good one to hear because I think that’s the job of a coach in-game, right? It’s that you have prepared your players. They’ve done all this strength work and all the conditioning and everything that goes into it for them to be able to play hard with great effort. So you’re not really coaching effort during the game. I mean, if you’re coaching effort during the game, you made a mistake somewhere else. But inlaid in the system, you need to have answers for everything. So you may not go into the game with a certain call or group of calls, but then you find out in the game, you need them. So you need to be able to pull those out. You can’t pull those out by making changes at half time that the players have never heard of, right? Because when we try to do that, the players fail.
“So those things need to be covered throughout spring and camp so that you can pull them out when you need them. And that’s the job of the coach. The last thing I tell the players when they leave the locker room before a game is all their mistakes today are on me. All the good plays are on them. But all the mistakes are on me. And Coach Cutcliffe taught me that. Players go into games, they don’t want to make mistakes. So if they do, then that’s my fault for not training them properly or putting them in those situations. And I also tell them if something goes wrong, I will fix it. So that’s on coaching. And to do that, it needs to be built into your system. You need to think of all those things beforehand that possibly could happen and that’s what keeps me up at night, making sure that we have all those answers.”
Being an innovator in the three-safety look with five defensive backs on the field
“I think you get challenged in the run game because it does look spread out. But again, everybody has an assignment and an area. The offense hopefully doesn’t quite know when you get into that three-safety look, the idea behind it is the offense is not quite sure who’s fitting where or who’s dropping into where in the coverage. You present a standard picture to the quarterback so you make the quarterback do things post-snap. And you get the offense to be guessing a little bit in the run game where everybody fits. But as long as we know where to fit, we get to play fast from that look. So while it may look spread out, guys are able to run full speed because they know exactly where the ball’s going to end up.
“But another one of Coach Cutcliffe sayings is ‘Gretzky.’ And they asked Wayne Gretzky, ‘how are you such a great goal scorer?’ He said, ‘It’s because I don’t go where the puck is, I go where the puck is going to be.’ So I think in that three-safety look, you get a lot of that. Like, ‘hey, don’t run to where the ball is.
We know the call. We know the ball is going to end up back here. So go to that spot.’ And I think when you’re deeper with vision, you can see everything and you know the structure of the defense, so you know where things are going to end up.”
On knowing what kind of body types he wants at each position in his defense, Tennessee fitting those needs in he portal
“We’ve made a lot of progress quickly. And that’s the transfer portal. It’s different and really can be hard on coaches and GMs or in planning, and there’s a lot more to it. But one of the benefits of it is when you do come in new, you can kind of bring some people in to fit those spots and we didn’t have that in the past. You would come in and really look to make the most of what was there. So yes, we’ve been able to get some key guys who I think will fit what we’re looking for in this system.”
On Tennessee’s linebacker room, the players returning and the new additions and what he’s most excited about with that group
“It starts with being the quarterback of the defense, right? So you have Amare (Campbell) coming in from Penn State and Amare Campbell. And you have AC (Arion Carter) who’s been here. And Edwin (Spillman). I know, I recruited Edwin, I recruited Arion, I recruited those guys. So they know me. And that’s where it starts, with being the quarterback and the leader of the defense. So forget about scheme, right there I think we got a great room of guys that can really be the quarterback of the defense and run things. And then you have some depth, right? I think depth is a bit of an issue in the secondary. We ought to bring some guys in. But linebackers, Amare Campbell was the only guy that came in and it’s because there’s already great depth there. There’s also great culture there. One of the things I learned during bowl prep was that — it’s acredit to Coach Inge — the linebacker room was the tightest knit group out of anyone. Other people said that. So those guys are really the glue to the defense, so before we even talk about scheme, I think we’re just talking about the people and that we have a real opportunity to be successful with those guys running it.”
On what a Jim Knowles defense is doing well when it’s hitting on all cylinders
“We’re not giving up explosive plays. I mean, that’s critical. They prevention of and defending explosives. We do a lot of direct teaching, so within a couple weeks here, I’ll be able to say to any of our defensive guys ‘defend explosives’ and they’ll say back to me ‘five or less, undefeated.’ They know if we have five or less explosive plays, we’re going to win every single game. So that’s the key, defend explosives, force the offense into passing situations where we can really get after it with the pass rush. And sometimes the blitzes and things that we do will create those negative plays, I think you’ll see that. But other times, another one of our sayings is, ‘coverage and rush’ and the players saying ‘working together’. Other times you’ll see that the coverage is forcing the quarterback to hold the ball and allowing our front four to make those sacks, which is really how we did it at Ohio State there. We went on that playoff run to the national championship, had a bunch of sacks. But it wasn’t through blitzing. It was through forcing the quarterback to hold the ball, disguising the coverage and letting the rush get home.”
On Tennessee hiring Indiana’s Derek Owings as the new strength coach of the Vols, what that means for the defense and improving quickly
“It all starts right there. I haven’t had the chance to get to know him, but I know of him and here’s and here’s guy who built a national champion and comes in the next day to take over our program and their development. And just being around him for a day or two, you can see that his attitude and his standards are elite. And he’s not going to win the games for us, the players will on the field. But you can tell he’s going to get them to that point where they can go out and make the plays.”
On what the keys are when it comes to quickly improving Tennessee’s defense
“It’s, number one, we’re not trying to be good, we’re going to be great. So it’s setting that standard really high. Really high, you know? And having that expertise, expectation, it all starts right there. The players being viewed by each other and by their coaches as always being on the rise. We’re going to start here, but then every day we’re going to look at each other and say, ‘Hey, are you on the rise today? Are you picking this up?’ You’re going to make mistakes but don’t make them twice. That’s a key to getting to be great. Mistakes are going to happen, don’t make the same mistake twice. Push each other, bond (with) each other. Pushing each other to the next level, checking each other, holding each other accountable. And coaches and players who know that we’re in this together, nobody’s coming to save us. All we have are each other. And you form that bond and you have pride in Tennessee, pride in what we put out on the field.
“It all starts with the understanding that when we send our 11 out there to take the field, we’re defending the honor of Tennessee and everybody who works in the background to help the players. There’s 11 guys. They’re defending them. It doesn’t matter where the ball is, could be on the one, could be on the 50. It doesn’t matter at what point it is in the game. Our job is to stop them. And that’s why stop rate is so critical. And I take a lot of pride in having a great stop rate, one of the best, if not the best, over the course of the past eight years. Because when you think about defense, you want the fans, the parents, the coaches, the strength coaches, the academic people, when the defense takes the field, we’re going to be okay. They’re going to stop them, you know? That’s where we’re going to get to.”
