A familiar crew fuels Jim Knowles’ defensive overhaul at Tennessee this spring

“That’s unique. I haven’t been in that before,” Knowles said of the portal. "So, I think it gives us really a step up. I know there were some struggles last year on defense, but the year before that they were pretty good, so we’re not starting at ground zero.”

How well this new defense comes together won't truly be tested until the season opener Sept. 5 against Furman. The first public look comes Saturday as Tennessee wraps up spring practice with the annual Orange & White game.

The Vols reached the 2024 College Football Playoff with a defense ranked fourth nationally, holding opponents to 13.9 points a game before losing to eventual national champ Ohio State. Knowles was the Buckeyes' defensive coordinator in that game.

Tennessee dropped to 91st in 2025, allowing 28.7 points a game with at least 33 in each of its four regular-season losses.

Heupel wasted little time firing coordinator Tim Banks on Dec. 8. He hired Knowles as his new coordinator three days later with Knowles watching practices before the Vols lost the Music City Bowl to finish 8-5.

The Tennessee coach likes the flexibility of Knowles' schemes and the coordinator's ability to put players into the best situations based on matchups. That's why he targeted Knowles to join him after the coordinator's lone season at Penn State.

"Having been a coordinator and had to go somewhere else too, I think a big part of your players picking it up as quickly as they can, is having guys in your staff room that understand your scheme, what you’re trying to implement and the why behind it,” Heupel said.

That's why Heupel hired two coaches who had been with Knowles at Penn State in Anthony Poindexter as co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach, and Andrew Jackson as outside linebackers coach.

The group was going to include Michael Hunter Jr., who worked with Knowles both at Ohio State and Oklahoma State, coaching cornerbacks before he was hired by the Los Angeles Rams. So Tennessee brought in Derek Jones, who worked with Knowles at Duke, in February.

Heupel also hired Derek Owings away from national champ Indiana as director of sports performance to help his Vols get stronger and faster.

Of the 22 players Tennessee brought in from the portal, the four from Penn State include the Nittany Lions' top tackler in linebacker Amare Campbell, edge rusher Chaz Coleman, defensive tackle Xavier Gilliam and safety Dejuan Lane.

Poindexter can see a difference in how quickly the defense installation has gone this spring. Knowing Knowles helps the defensive assistants understand how the defense needs to look. Knowles also was a coordinator at Oklahoma State, Duke and Western Michigan.

That's because coaches need to know what's going on before teaching players what to do in a scheme. Poindexter said familiarity with Knowles and what's being taught translates into how coaches explain details more confidently.

"We’re light years ahead of where we were a year ago,” Poindexter said.

AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football