Josh Heupel made one of the biggest moves of Tennessee football’s offseason just a week and a half after the Vols’ 2025 regular season ended, hiring veteran defensive coordinator Jim Knowles to replace Tim Banks.
Knowles arrived at Tennessee with an impressive resume, spending 16 years as a power five defensive coordinator including six seasons where his team ranked in the top 25 nationally in scoring defense and helping coach Ohio State to the 2024 national championship.
But one shortcoming in Knowles’ career is the length of time it has taken his players to fully comprehend and execute his defense. Knowles’ first year at a school is almost always the worst statistical season. The Vols are looking to avoid that fate this season with Josh Heupel sharing a reason he thinks this team will quickly pick up on the first-year defensive coordinator’s scheme.
“We hired a staff member that’s been with him in the unit room, position rooms, on the grass with him on game day at every level of the defense,” Heupel said at SEC Media Days on Monday. “I think that’s part of why they were able to look at their teaching patterns, continue to sync those things up, get it to our players as seamlessly and quickly as possible. I can’t be prouder of how our guys have grabbed onto it.”
Heupel didn’t just hire a new defensive coordinator but largely overhauled his defensive staff. Defensive line coach Rodney Garner and William Inge are the only defensive assistant coaches back from last season.
Safeties coach Anthony Poindexter and LEO’s coach Andrew Jackson followed Knowles from Penn State to Tennessee. The Vols originally hired Michael Hunter, who coached with Knowles at Ohio State, as their cornerbacks’ coach before he left for a position with the Los Angeles Rams.
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Tennessee instead hired Derek Jones, who worked under Knowles at Duke from 2010-17, to coach cornerbacks. With position coaches who have experience installing Knowles’ system, Tennessee is hoping they will avoid the first year pitfalls.
“You look at his track record of developing elite defenses everywhere that he’s been, his ability to adapt to different personnel at the different stops, and structurally be a little bit different but put his personnel in a position to be elite,” Heupel said. “That’s one of the things that was important to me. … It was important to me having been a coordinator before going to a new university understanding you want to become as good as you can as fast as you can, some of the tools you need with that.”
Knowles addressed his previous first-year struggles on The Mike Keith Show back in January, acknowledging the need to simplify things early to make the learning curve easier for players. Tennessee also landed three transfers from Penn State to who bring a year of experience in Knowles’ system to Knoxville.
Knowles comes to Tennessee after spending just one season at Penn State and the previous three years at Ohio State. The Buckeyes’ defense ranked in the top 25 nationally in points per game all three seasons under Knowles while ranking second nationally in 2023 and first in 2024.
Tennessee is looking to rebuild a defense that fell off a cliff in 2025, ranking 93rd nationally in points per game allowed.
