James Franklin, who had been in hot pursuit of a big-name defensive coordinator to replace Tom Allen, plucked Jim Knowles from national champion Ohio State. If Knowles isn’t the top DC in the nation, he is on the short list.

James Franklin swung for the fences. Penn State empowered him to do. Now, the Nittany Lions are on the verge of making perhaps the biggest move of the entire coaching cycle. Several sources tell FootballScoop that Penn State is working to finalize a deal with vaunted defensive coordinator Jim Knowles,

Penn State football reportedly will make former Ohio State Buckeye Jim Knowles the highest-paid assistant coach in the nation.