When Tennessee football aimed to elevate its defense over the offseason, coach Josh Heupel went after Jim Knowles, one of the most highly-regarded defensive coordinators in college football.
So, just how good is Knowles? Take it from former Tennessee offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe, who hired Knowles at both his head coaching stops.
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“Jimmy Knowles is a superstar,” Cutcliffe said Sept. 21 at the Knoxville Quarterback Club. “I hired him at Ole Miss, couldn’t pay him enough money and lost him. I hired him again at Duke, got every dime I could get – couldn’t pay him enough money and lost him again. Every time I lost him, I’d get my butt fired. That’s what happened.”
Knowles was Cutcliffe’s linebackers coach at Ole Miss in 2003 before he earned a head coaching job at Cornell, his alma mater, in 2004. He then worked for Cutcliffe again from 2010-17 at Duke, first as the safeties coach in 2010 and then as the defensive coordinator.
Cutcliffe called Knowles brilliant and smart as could be, but down to earth. The players loved him, and he had a sharp coaching mind.
The Philadelphia-raised coach initially went to New York to work in finance after playing for Cornell, but Knowles was miserable, Cutcliffe said, which led him to coaching.
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“I’m so glad he did. I’ve had more fun recruiting – when Jim and I would go up east recruiting, I mean, it was like a history exam,” Cutcliffe said. “And then every staff meeting I had with the staff, we always do … a fact of the day. But when Knowles was on the staff, he’s so creative, he made up the fact of the day. And I would let him do it.
“It was about as far from a damn fact as anything you ever heard, but it sure was entertaining.”
Knowles went on to be the defensive coordinator at Oklahoma State from 2018-21 after Duke, and then Ohio State from 2022-24, which ended with a national championship in 2024.
When Penn State hired him away from the Buckeyes, it made him the highest-paid defensive coordinator in college football at $3.1 million per year. Knowles signed a three-year deal with Tennessee in December that will pay him $6.6 million in total plus bonuses.
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Cora Hall is the University of Tennessee women’s athletics reporter for Knox News. Email: cora.hall@knoxnews.com; X: @corahalll; Bluesky: @corahall.bsky.social. Support strong local journalism and unlock premium perks:knoxnews.com/subscribe
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Why David Cutcliffe says Tennessee defensive coordinator Jim Knowles is a ‘superstar’
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