‘We could really get Jim?’: Jim Knowles, Anthony Poindexter and Penn State’s sizzling start to the offseason

Final offseason, Ohio State made key switch portal acquisitions, paid massive to retain its finest gamers and spent hundreds of thousands on a splashy coordinator rent.

This offseason, it’s Penn State’s flip.

Within the newest offseason transfer, Penn State employed away Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles to make him the highest-paid coordinator in school soccer historical past — a assured three-year contract value greater than $9 million that resets the marketplace for school assistants. Knowles’ rent follows the retention of prime expertise as the college makes use of revenue-sharing funds to lure its finest gamers away from the NFL, together with quarterback Drew Allar, operating backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen, defensive finish Dani Dennis-Sutton, defensive sort out Zane Durant and security Zakee Wheatley.

However there’s extra acquisition information in Blissful Valley: Anthony Poindexter, this system’s co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach, is anticipated to stay on workers by signing a brand new multi-year contract with an elevated wage — a deal that’s resulted in him turning down curiosity from energy convention colleges of their coordinator openings, sources inform Yahoo Sports activities.

In reality, behind Knowles’ transfer from Columbus to State School — one of the gorgeous coordinator swings in latest trade historical past — is Poindexter, the 48-year-old former Virginia defensive again who received a Tremendous Bowl as a participant with the Baltimore Ravens and has helped steer one of many nation’s finest defensive items since becoming a member of James Franklin’s workers in 2021.

Poindexter was in line for a promotion to the full-time coordinator place to switch Tom Allen, who left for Clemson earlier this month. Nonetheless, Knowles’ curiosity within the place altered the course of the rent, these with data of the search advised Yahoo Sports activities.

Franklin and Poindexter held a dialog earlier this previous week when it grew to become obvious that Penn State had a possibility to rent Knowles. “We may actually get Jim?” he advised Franklin.

Poindexter even mentioned the job with Knowles over the previous few days, committing to remaining on workers if Knowles had been employed to run the protection.

Ohio State’s provide to Knowles would have made him the highest-paid coordinator in soccer — no less than $2.6 million a yr in wage. Penn State went above it, providing a historic determine for any assistant coach of greater than $3 million a yr in a transfer that aligns with this system’s messaging earlier this fall associated to its sources within the impending revenue-sharing world of faculty sports activities.

Throughout an interview in November, Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft acknowledged that, on this murky NIL period, Ohio State and others had a “leg up.” However, he stated, within the impending period of direct compensation, Penn State will go “toe to toe with them.”

“I believe it’s our time,” Kraft advised Yahoo Sports activities then.

Lower than three months later, the Nittany Lions are on tempo for an offseason harking back to the one the Buckeyes had final yr, when head coach Ryan Day stored round his plethora of expertise, plucked stars like Caleb Downs and Quinshon Judkins from SEC packages and employed then-UCLA head coach Chip Kelly as offensive coordinator.

The end result was an Ohio State nationwide championship in one of the unimaginable postseason runs in school soccer historical past.