Jim Knowles stood with hands on his knees. The bridge of his glasses hung on the tip of his nose. He was at practice, surrounded by athletes. But at this moment Knowles looked no different than a professor in his study, deeply analyzing the material in front of him. He’s arguably the nation’s top defensive mind for a reason. His methods aren’t to be questioned.
Knowles’ practice routine is something between odd and fascinating. He lets his Penn State position coaches handle drills while he observes. And when it comes time for scrimmages between his defense and Andy Kotelnicki’s offense, he can be found standing deep in the end zone, expressionless. The mind of this defensive coordinator does most of the talking.
“For me, practice is like game day every day because you set these things up and you do a lot of planning, and then a lot of times it’s like controlled chaos on the field,” Knowles said on Tuesday. “So you kind of get to see where all the pieces are going to fit. And particularly going against Andy, you kind of get to see the weaknesses, maybe the strengths, of some of the things that I do.”
At previous stops, such as Ohio State and Oklahoma State, it’s taken years for defenses to adjust to Knowles’ schematics. But under James Franklin, whose program is already relatively familiar with base, Knowles has already installed about 60% of his system just under a month into spring practice. Kotelnicki has helped torpedo some of the growing pains.
“With Andy, he’s going against a ton of different formations and motions, as you guys know, every single day at practice,” Franklin said. “And I think that’s going to put us way ahead, because if you don’t do a whole lot of that, and then you get it during the season, it could be a pain in the neck.”
The two coordinators starkly contrast each other when it comes to practice personalities. Kotelnicki is loud, oftentimes gleeful. He cracks jokes with his quarterbacks, participates in hitting players with pads in ball-security drills. Meanwhile, on the other side of the field, there’s Knowles, who simply watches, adjusting his sight from position group to position group.
But for all their differences, Knowles and Kotelnicki are alike in one highly important aspect: they know how to scheme.
Kotelnicki was nearly perfect in his first season as the Nittany Lions’ offensive coordinator. That was except for one game, when he faced Knowles and the Buckeyes, the only team that kept Kotelnicki’s offense out of the end zone. The two gifted coordinators have since developed a friendship, exchanging ideas and attempting to one-up each other in each practice.
“It’s more than I’ve ever gone against in a spring, to be quite honest with you,” Knowles said. “And I try to tell that to the defensive guys, that this helps us because our offense is so multiple and creative, and the formations and the different things that they do are really challenging. So, when you put in a basic call, it has to be able to adjust against everything when you’re going against Andy and our offense.”
Knowles made an impact at Penn State before even entering the facilities as the team’s defensive coordinator. He knows what it takes to reach the top of the mountain. Knowles, of course, won a title just months ago. Now comes the tricky part with the Nittany Lions — turning national championship aspirations into a realistic scenario.
His players have bought in, despite his unique antics. The feeling from those who work with him and those who have watched him in spring practices is that this a man who knows what he’s doing. Only Knowles knows exactly the thoughts that race through his head while in deep observation, But little by little, production is being made. His visions are coming to fruition.
“I think we’ve made a lot of progress in a short time, blending new concepts with some of the old concepts that they did,” Knowles said. “Obviously, they were very good here on defense. So, we’re using what we can and trying to keep things in similar terms for the players. But I’m happy with the progress. We’ve gotten a bunch of things in.”
