A new era for Tennessee football’s defense under Josh Heupel has arrived. After the firing of defensive coordinator Tim Banks, Heupel hired Jim Knowles as his replacement.
On Thursday, Knowles met with the media for his introductory press conference. He was asked about installing the defense, his coaching staff and more.
Here’s what he said.
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On teaching a new scheme to Tennessee’s players, if he starts from a clean slate or tries to work with what they already know
“That’s a good question because I’ve done it differently at different places. But here we are starting from a clean slate. That doesn’t mean that we don’t use some things that they’ve used in the past. I try to listen to maybe a certain way that they called a certain thing, and I can change on that if they’re already familiar with a certain term. But in general, I’d say we’re starting from a clean slate.”
On why Penn State edge rusher Chaz Coleman was such a valuable addition for Tennessee out of the NCAA Transfer Portal
“He’s explosive. He’s difficult to block. He has a little bit of an invisible cloak, you where he can twist, turn, beat guys one-on-one. He has great initial quickness off the ball. So he’s a guy that can create havoc for an offense and really creates a matchup issue.”
On getting to Tennessee in December and sitting in on meetings and practices during bowl prep, if players have been open to change
“You know, that time for me was really just an evaluation time. It was really more for me to learn about who the players are, who the coaches are, what are their strengths, what are their weaknesses? So didn’t get in depth, really, at the time on what was wrong, what was right, what can we do better, what do you want to keep? All those things that will be coming up now in the spring. It was really just an evaluation period for me.”
On working with an uptempo offense as a defensive coordinator, what gave him comfort in working alongside Josh Heupel’s offense
“Well, our head coach is as genuine and as real as anybody I’ve been around in terms of wanting the defense to be successful, wanting the special team, wanting everybody to be successful. So he is the farthest thing from a me guy or an ego guy. He’s extremely down to earth, communicates well. I knew that from the first time I flew in here and he picked me up himself and took me to his house, which I’d never done before in that circumstance, when you’re just kind of looking at each other to see if it’s going to work. So he kind of set that right from the beginning, that that’s just the type of person he is and the type of team he wants to have, that he’s going to do what’s best for the whole team.”
On how fast he can install his defense, given that he brought coaches and players with him from Penn State
“Yeah. We can go faster than other situations that I’ve been in because of the fact, like you said, that we have a lot of coaches who have worked with me before. So that’s a huge advantage. So definitely faster than other places. And we have a few players, which is really kind of crazy in this day and age, that you have a few players that have been in this system, really at all levels of the defense. Xavier (Gillam), Amare (Campbell), DayDay (Dejuan Lane), Chaz (Coleman). At all levels, they’ve been around, so they can help. So yeah, I would say there is that opportunity. And we do try to throw a lot at them early. It’s a whole, part, whole philosophy. You know, kind of start out, throw a lot at them, see what they can take, shrink it down. Once you figure out their strengths and weaknesses and how they learn, it’s really important how they learn. And then hopefully build it back up to whole on the other end. But how you get to the other end is really based on the players and how they pick it up. But I’ll put in a lot, shrink it way down, to see what they know, and then take it step by step to build it back up.”
On what excites him about adding Derek Jones to the Tennessee staff as cornerbacks coach
“DJ is an elite recruiter, an elite motivator, an elite mentor and technician of the corner position, aside from just being a great person. So he brings an energy to our staff that is really unmatched just with the way his demeanor every day. Really a high-energy guy and that goes over to everything he does.”
On having four top-15 defenses in the last six years, what allows his defenses to have so much success
“The players, number one, so the players. But two is having answers. That is the most critical thing, having answers. Because you’re always going to get into situations in a game where you have to have an answer for how they’re hurting you or how they’re attacking you. Or you’re going to go week to week in college football where offenses change. So that’s my job. I think that’s why it’s worked, why our stop rate has been so good, is because we’re going to have answers. We’re going to have answers to anything an offense can do.”
On retaining Tennessee defensive coaches William Inge and Rondey Garner, why he wanted to keep those two coaches on his staff
“Rodney Garner is a legend, so I’m going to start right there. He’s really a legend when it comes to, when it comes to coaching D-line, an SEC legend. I think he’s extremely well known. And when you watch him, he coaches his players very hard, but he loves them right after that. That’s a unique combination. It’s how I like to be, challenge them, work them hard, but make sure they know that you care about them. He’s all about that.
“And Coach Inge, his room, that linebacker room, one of the things I learned during my evaluation period was that linebacker room was the best room on defense, but it was maybe the best room on the team in terms of how close those guys are and how they work together and how he manages his players. That’s really a telltale sign when other people talk about your position and say, ‘Yeah, we have to be more like the linebackers.’ I think that shows what kind of coach he is.”
