After a disappointing 2025 season, Josh Heupel made a significant move to his Tennessee football coaching staff. The Vols’ head coach fired defensive coordinator Tim Banks and made the move to hire Jim Knowles, one of the most respected coordinators in the sport.
Knowles was far from the only coordinator hire in the SEC this offseason, though. Along with teams adding entire new staffs through the hiring of head coaches, there were significant mix-ups across the conference.
As spring camp marches on, Steven Lassan of Athlon Sports ranked the top ‘impact coordinator hires’ across the SEC. Knowles came in at the top spot. He edged out Florida offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner, South Carolina offensive coordinator Kendal Briles, Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp and Mississippi State defensive coordinator Zach Arnett.
SEC’s Top 10 Impact Coordinator Hires
Ranked by @AthlonSteven pic.twitter.com/Rh9OHMBAQo
— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) March 31, 2026
More From RTI: Tennessee Football Makes Top Schools List for Highly-Ranked Defensive Line Recruit
Knowles is now in the process of installing his defense at Tennessee. With the help of multiple assistant coaches who are familiar with his system and a handful of players from his last stop, Penn State, joining him in Knoxville, things seem to be going smoothly, though.
“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,” Knowles said heading into spring camp. “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.”
Knowles’ defense will be on display in front of the public for the first time in the upcoming Orange & White Game. The scrimmage is scheduled for Saturday, April 11, and is free admission to fans. It will not be broadcast.
