As the Penn State football team looks to dominate on the recruiting trail, they still have to recover from their College Football Playoff loss against Notre Dame in the semifinals. Part of recovering was the Penn State football team hiring Jim Knowles to be their defensive coordinator as he speaks about the possibility of the program winning a championship in the foreseeable future.

Knowles was with the Ohio State Buckeyes from 2022 to 2024 as the defensive coordinator and now takes his talents to Pennsylvania to lead the Nittany Lions unit. He has two goals for his stint with the university and it's two that fans will be excited to hear ahead of next season according to NBC Sports.

“I have one aspiration,” Knowles said. “I’m at that point in my career where you focus solely on the job at hand, and my aspiration is to help Penn State win the national championship and be the No. 1 defense in the country — and that’s really all I’m focused on. That’s not just talk. That’s the truth. I don’t have any aspirations beyond that.”

Consequently, there is no doubt that Knowles knows what it feels like to win a national championship as being with the Buckeyes this past season, they won the title and look to now be a part of head coach James Franklin's staff to bring one to them. The last time that the Nittany Lions won a national title was 1986, looking to rectify that.

Jim Knowles joins James Franklin's Penn State football staff

As possibly Ryan Day made Knowles come to the Penn State football team, he looks to uplift a group that has been known to lose in significant games as last season was no different losing a close one to Notre Dame. However, it seems as if joining the Nittany Lions was a long time in the making.

“You know, you reach a point in your career where you’re given opportunities based on past performance,” Knowles said. “And Penn State, for me — growing up in inner-city Philly — was the epitome of college football. When I was a kid, I was never talented enough to make it to Penn State as a player but given the opportunity to do it now as a coach, it’s really where I want to be to continue my career.”

As they were just short of making a national championship, Knowles would say that he feels he “can be of service” to Penn State in getting them over the hump. While the Nittany Lions have been the definition of “so close yet so far,” Knowles is confident he can be the one to give them that push needed to break any narrative.

“So close, right? I think I can help. I think I can be of service,” Knowles said. “Once you get past being young and thinking you’re going to be the head coach of the Green Bay Packers, as you move forward in your career, you really start thinking about: How can I be of service? Where can I add to a great team and be a part of a great team? And this is the place because everything here is so close to winning it all, and I’m hopeful that I can help get it there.”

Penn State finished 13-3, 8-1 in conference.