Poll: What are your thoughts on hiring Knowles as DC?

[Hunerwadel]

Complicated defense? Nah, if a college student can't learn a football defensive system how is he going to learn biology, math and well..anything?

https://atozsports.com/nashville/volunteers/ive-gotten-better-at-it-theres-one-big-concern-with-tennessee-hiring-jim-knowles-as-the-vols-new-defensive-coordinator/

 

[rkvdg]

Now we need to coach up some DB'S that will not line up 10 to 15 yards off the ball especially in short to medium yardage.

 

[Good Ol' Charlie Brown]

I think this is an excellent hire, he has the championship defense pedigree and runs the 4-3-5 defense so current UR personnel wont be out of position. Can recruit and needs to hit the portal hard to fill holes everywhere.

4-2-5.
4-3-5 is 12 people

 

[VOLINVONORE]

4-2-5.
4-3-5 is 12 people

Picky, Picky. I bet all defenses would be better if they were allowed to run a 4-3-5. Sometimes last year, it looked like we were running 4-2-4.

 

[SCRocket]

Durkin

Interesting. I think Knowles is the better one. Why do you think Durkin is better?

 

[Good Ol' Charlie Brown]

Picky, Picky. I bet all defenses would be better if they were allowed to run a 4-3-5. Sometimes last year, it looked like we were running 4-2-4.

I'll bet we were

 

[DarkMode]

Great hire. We needed a change and we got a good one.

 

[sambronkowitz]

We upgraded for sure. And what a great early Christmas present for us that Knowles is now going to be our DC.

 

[Nooga]

Now we need to coach up some DB'S that will not line up 10 to 15 yards off the ball especially in short to medium yardage.

Be prepared to be sorely disappointed. He runs a primarily zone scheme. There’s going to be lots of cushion and rally and tackle. Distinct change from Banks’ preference for man defense.

 

[VolFanNC09]

I think a poll should be when will people on VN start calling for him to be fahr’d. Spring game, fall camp, first game or middle of season?

 

[IndianaVol]

4-2-5.
4-3-5 is 12 people

Picky, Picky. I bet all defenses would be better if they were allowed to run a 4-3-5. Sometimes last year, it looked like we were running 4-2-4.

The ol' 4-3-5...also known as the Dooley Goal Line Last Play Defense

 

[adam.vol]

Be prepared to be sorely disappointed. He runs a primarily zone scheme. There’s going to be lots of cushion and rally and tackle. Distinct change from Banks’ preference for man defense.

Hopefully he can teach our players to close in and tackle. My biggest frustration this season was watching our guys stand behind the first down marker, waiting for the ball to come to them.

 

[VOLINVONORE]

Hopefully he can teach our players to close in and tackle. My biggest frustration this season was watching our guys stand behind the first down marker, waiting for the ball to come to them.

He probably knows how to coach a zone defense which was never done in the las 5 years.

 

[It's Vols or nothing!]

I for one am so glad we won't see a QB converting every third down by throwing the ball to the middle of the field with no defender around

 

[RockyTop603]

I think Jim Knowles is a great hire. I was really hoping for Chris Hampton at first, so I didn’t spend much time considering Knowles, but the more I look into him, the more I like it. He runs disciplined, aggressive defenses and develops talent at a high level. Hopefully with strong NIL support, we can bring in players who can pick up his system quickly and make an immediate impact.

 

[Eastknox865]

The 34th defense in the country, despite the wheels falling off for the entire team and program, is not "trash." Our defense was closer to 100.

After hearing Swain I'm convinced this is a good hire. I have a lot of trust in Swain

 

[VAVol85]

Apparently Jesus himself coordinating our defense.

Reminds me of the old Bama joke when they were in the coaching wasteland. Someone proposed Jesus as HC, but there were concerns: no evidence he had ever wrestled a bear and that whole sent by the father thing didn’t really work out with Shula.

 

[VAVol85]

I think it’s a great hire. But I also thought Butch Jones was a good hire. I don’t know s@&*

I am with you and I thought Pruitt was a good hire so clearly I don’t s@&t either. Self awareness is a strength!

 

[It's Vols or nothing!]

Great hire, reminds me of the likes of Monte Kiffin.

Might take some time to learn and the defense might look bad at times, but once it's learned, the defense looks amazing

If he was good enough for Penn state, yet alone, OHIO STATE, he is definitely qualified to coach here.

This is the type of hire that puts Tennessee over the needle. This is the type of *quality* hire we typically do not get here.

Amazing hire and this will save Coach JH. I'm not calling Josh a bad coach but his problem has been sticking with his buddies. Great coach that might be a bit too nice which I respect too because in a crapppy society, that's refreshing but this is about football and these guys are getting paid big money regardless

 

[ftsandersvol]

There’s just no way to make some happy!

You can stand in a doorway handing out $100 bills and someone would complain because you didn't give them two $50s.

 

[HalfullVol]

 

[Walkman]

Durkin

Lol

 

[vegasvolfan]

Who’s better?

This is a fair challenge, and that’s really up for debate. Most boards have him in the top 5 of college coaches however. After reading/learning more, this was a home run hire.

 

[Cobb-Webb 1989]

…..

 

[VOLINVONORE]

The more I have learned about Knowles, the more I like the hire. One question is, which position will he be coaching. It is very evident that Safeties and CB have not been coached well enough for our defense to quickly get off the field. Tackling last year was rhetorical worst I have ever seen on a Tennessee football team and I have been watching Tennessee play football since 1945. That is 80 years of watching the big Orange. The defense's to be better simply by teaching players the basics of tackling a ball carrier. Therefore, I expect our defense will be considerable better in 2026 an the offense will be also be better in 2025 because of more talented players being better coached..