Update, December 11, 1:01 p.m.:

Tennessee has made the Jim Knowles hire official. He will make $2.0 million in 2026, $2.2 million in 2027, and $2.4 million in 2028, per Pete Thamel.

Tennessee makes this official. They will be paying him $2.0 million in 2026, $2.2 in 2027 and $2.4 million in 2028. (He also expected to get a buyout, which was being negotiated from the $7 million Penn State owed him on his deal.) https://t.co/2bUE1A9kfm

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 11, 2025

His $7 million buyout from Penn State was negotiated down to an undisclosed amount.

Update, 3:20 p.m.

Tennessee is expected to hire Knowles as its defensive coordinator, per CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz.

Tennessee is in fact expected to hire Jim Knowles as its new defensive coordinator, sources tell @CBSSports https://t.co/TpLP3lydFm pic.twitter.com/jiYzis9rZ2

— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) December 10, 2025

Original story:

Penn State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles is not being retained as part of Matt Campbell’s staff, per Pete Nakos of On3. Campbell is expected to bring his defensive coordinator, Jon Heacock, with him.

Penn State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles is not being retained by Matt Campbell, sources tell @On3sports.

Former Ohio State and Oklahoma State defensive coordinator. https://t.co/bFtwfr9iif pic.twitter.com/pMtZsrH4pj

— Pete Nakos (@PeteNakos) December 10, 2025

Knowles joined Penn State in January 2025 after spending three seasons with Ohio State. The Philadelphia native joined the Nittany Lions thanks to a package totaling $3.2 million a year, per FootballScoop, and the ability to live closer to his fiancée.

The 60-year-old was hired in the wake of the former defensive coordinator Tom Allen’s lateral move to Clemson.

In his only season in Happy Valley, Knowles helped the Nittany Lions to a 6-6 record with 21.42 points per game. Knowles took a lot of flak during the season, especially after giving up 42 against UCLA and 36 against Rutgers.

As Ohio State’s defensive coordinator, Knowles improved the Buckeyes from the No. 59-ranked total defense to the No. 14 defense in 2022. In the program’s national championship campaign, the Buckeyes finished with the best total defense in college football.

Knowles spent four seasons as Oklahoma State’s defensive coordinator before joining Ohio State, leading the Cowboys to program-record statistics. They finished in the top five in sacks, tackles for loss, third-down defense, total defense, and rushing defense, which also led the Big 12, during the 2021 season.

Campbell was reportedly promised $17 million annually by Penn State to use on assistant coaches. He is expected to use some of this to pull Heacock out of Ames, Iowa, to follow him to Penn State.

Heacock has previously worked in the Big Ten on three different occasions. He started his college coaching career as a graduate assistant for Michigan, worked as a defensive coordinator for Indiana, and Purdue’s defensive back coach in 2013.