Jim Knowles sent a jolt through the college football world following a national championship at Ohio State. However, the move is more of a homecoming than anything else for the longtime defensive coordinator.

Across 3 seasons on the staff of Ryan Day, Knowles reinvigorated the Buckeye defense to be among the best in the entire country. It culminated in a 2024 national championship, the first of the 12-team Playoff era and the first for Ohio State since the 2014 season.

Coming off of that title, Knowles cashed in on the recent success via a deal to join James Franklin’s staff as the new DC for Penn State. It’s a major swing and impressive move for Franklin as the Nittany Lions try to get over the hump that Ohio State just crossed.

After the hiring was announced on Monday, Knowles has since delivered his introductory comments to the program in Happy Valley. He leaned into his Philadelphia roots and explained he worked hard to be able to choose where he wanted to be.

At this point in his career, Knowles has chosen Penn State as where he wants to be:

“We had like 3 channels on TV, and you got up on Sunday morning and watched the Penn State highlights,” said Knowles about his childhood. “Because I grew up in Philly — North Philly… Penn State was everything. It was everything.

“That’s what we aspired to be. And I couldn’t be there as a player, but through a lot of work, a lot of time, a lot of really good players, that allowed me to reach that point in my career where I could really pick wherever I wanted to be. And growing up as a kid, Penn State was everything, and this is where I want to be.”

Knowles’ career began taking off after being hired by Duke head coach David Cutcliffe to lead the Blue Devils’ defense heading into 2010. Since that time, Knowles has produced elite defenses across his career with stops at Duke, Oklahoma State and Ohio State.

Now, he’ll try to do the same at Penn State where the Nittany Lions will hope he provides the key to getting to a national championship.