Tennessee’s reset on defense brought in a name with real weight behind it.
After a rough 2026 season on that side of the ball, Josh Heupel made a move he had never made before in his time leading the Volunteers: he fired a position coach or coordinator, parting ways with defensive coordinator and safeties coach Tim Banks. Heupel’s answer was to go get one of the biggest available defensive minds on the market in Jim Knowles, who arrives in Knoxville after just one season at Penn State.
Knowles is already being viewed as a solid SEC addition. Steven Lassan of Athlon Sports slotted him at No. 8 among the conference’s defensive coordinators during an appearance on That SEC Podcast, putting him in the top half of the league.
The group ahead of him includes Oklahoma’s Brent Venables and Todd Bates, Texas A&M’s Mike Elko and Lyle Hemphill, Texas’ Will Muschamp, LSU’s Blake Baker, Georgia’s Glenn Schumann, Auburn’s DJ Durkin and Alabama’s Kane Wommack.
Knowles now has the task of installing a new scheme and new terminology before the 2026 season, and he’s bringing some familiarity with him from Penn State. Multiple players and assistants are joining him to help smooth the transition.
“We do try to throw a lot at them early,” Knowles said after taking the job. “It’s a whole, part, whole philosophy.
You know, kind of start out, throw a lot at them, see what they can take, shrink it down. Once you figure out their strengths and weaknesses and how they learn, it’s really important how they learn.
And then hopefully build it back up to whole on the other end. But how you get to the other end is really based on the players and how they pick it up.”
Knowles brings a strong résumé with him. Before Penn State, he coordinated one of the nation’s best defenses at Ohio State on the way to a national title. He also had successful runs as a defensive coordinator at Oklahoma State and Duke after a six-year stretch as head coach at Cornell.
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Tennessee Fans Will Have Strong Opinions On This Food City Center Ranking
Brian Rauf of Basket Under Review set out to rank the toughest places to play in mens college basketball, leaning on a formula that weighed attendance, home-road splits, mystique and the quality of opponents beaten on their own floor. In that mix, Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center landed 21st, a placement that should at least spark a few strong opinions around Knoxville.
The ranking still reflects why the building has become such a problem for visitors under Rick Barnes. Tennessee has been consistently strong at home during his tenure, with a run that includes two undefeated home seasons and a long list of wins over ranked teams. The Volunteers also sit among a crowded SEC showing in the top 25, which only adds to the sense that the leagues best venues continue to set the standard. [Read more 🡒]
These Three 2026 Games Could Define Josh Heupels Tennessee Future
With Tennessee looking ahead to a 2026 season shaped by a new nine-game SEC schedule, the margin for error figures to be thin from the start. Josh Heupels program is trying to get back into playoff contention, and the road back runs through the kind of league games that can either validate the direction of the roster or leave the Vols chasing answers by November.
Auburn, Alabama and Vanderbilt stand out as the three matchups that could say the most about where Tennessee really is under Heupel. Those games bring different kinds of pressure, from measuring up against a major SEC rival to handling a late-season trip that could carry real stakes for the conference race, and each one should help define whether 2026 is a step forward or just another year of almost. [Read more 🡒]