STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — In the days after the Orange Bowl, Penn State’s players gathered on campus for a team meeting. At that point in January, they found out defensive coordinator Tom Allen was leaving for Clemson and that James Franklin would do his part to hire the best candidate he could. The team’s season had just ended three days prior.

Even though Penn State just recently landed Jim Knowles this offseason, James Franklin had his eyes set on the former Ohio State defensive coordinator years ago. Believe it or not, this may have been a long time coming for Knowles to come to Penn State.

Franklin and Knowles previously had discussed a job at Penn State. An early morning call two days after Ohio State's national championship began the process.

Penn State's James Franklin explained, for the first time, of hiring away top defensive coordinator Jim Knowles from Ohio State.

Franklin had talked to Knowles in December 2021 shortly after defensive coordinator Brent Pry, one of his longtime assistants, left Penn State to become head coach at Virginia Tech. Knowles wound up going to Ohio State and the Lions ended up hiring Manny Diaz, who enjoyed two very successful seasons before he became head coach at Duke.