Why Jim Knowles can be a difference maker for Penn State in big games

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There are plenty of reasons to add a defensive coordinator like Jim Knowles to a college football staff. He's arguably the best at that job in the sport.

But in all reality, he was brought to Penn State for games like Saturday against Oregon. Because those are the games the Nittany Lions have struggled with in the past -- as recently as last year when former DC Tom Allen's unit was torn apart by the Ducks in the Big Ten title game.

Knowles, who took on the Ducks twice last year when he was at Ohio State, is uniquely equipped to help the Nittany Lions in their biggest moments and could be the piece that puts the team over the top on Saturday.

His greatest strengths -- play-calling and adjusting in-game -- are what teams need to excel at against the best of the best. And there might not be a coordinator in the country who does those two things as well as he does.

That's partially because Knowles has been at this for a while now (he took his first defensive coordinator job in 2001) and has seen plenty of football -- which means he can account for most scenarios and schemes.

"He's an experienced defensive coordinator," Penn State head coach James Franklin said at his weekly Monday press conference. "There is a lot going on up there."

But there's more to adjusting and adapting than just pulling from memory. There's a level of football intelligence and sense for what's about to come that's required to make the right adjustment. And it takes even more to make the right call at the right time to counter an offense. Especially one as potent as Oregon's.

Clayton Carlin, who is one of Knowles' best friends and coached under him when the Penn State DC was Cornell's head coach, says it's just something Knowles has a knack for.

"The intelligence is really good," Carlin told the Centre Daily Times. "He's a very, very smart man. He just sees things and is able to make those on-time decisions. He sees the big picture. ... He just sees things that a lot of coaches don't see. And he's really good at picking up tendencies."

It's one thing to have that level of knowledge about what you're seeing -- it's another to be able to teach your players what you want done in those situations.

And Knowles excels at that, too. There are a number of players who have spoken about his intensity and specificity in both practice and meetings. They laugh when they hear people say Knowles is quiet at practice, because that's not the person they see, even if it's who he is away from the field. He wants excellence out of his players and he provides them the tools to get there throughout the week. But once game day arrives, Knowles settles in. He's said it before -- it's his job to stay calm and under control to call the best game he can. That's part of why he's in the coaches' booth and not on the field.

And that translates to his players. No player sees it more than linebacker Amare Campbell, who wears the green dot helmet on defense -- signaling in-helmet communication with Knowles to call plays.

"It's good," Campbell said after Wednesday's practice. "He coaches me up. He coaches everybody up. Just the smart things, the little details that he tells me pre-snap with the play he's calling, just the little things, it helps a lot."

Campbell gets to hear from Knowles throughout the game, but he's the only one. The defensive coordinator makes adjustments at halftime and communicates with the defense then, but cornerback A.J. Harris said he's mostly quiet on game day.

Unless, of course, he's in the locker room after a win.

"He'll come in there smiling, happy, of course after a W," Harris said after practice Wednesday. "That's when you do see his personality, after the game. ... He's a quiet soul. But at the end of the day he's for his players. You can see it. He loves us. He loves winning with us. He loves being here. He's a great guy."

Knowles' calm and cool nature keeps him focused on the task at hand and allows him to make the changes he needs throughout the game. He's always making adjustments in games, according to Carlin, and is always looking for the edge for his defense. That is especially true when it comes to getting after the opposing quarterback.

That's going to be one of the main tasks at hand on Saturday against the Ducks, who have an explosive offense that can be devastating for an opponent if quarterback Dante Moore can dice up the defense without anybody pushing him off his spot.

But Carlin is certain Knowles will be ready.

"He's good at knowing the skill set of the quarterback and his strengths and his weaknesses. And he's really, really good, and has been good at this for a long, long time, at breaking down protections on the O-line," Carlin said. "And he's really good at scheming up protections and coming up with new blitzes based on how, Oregon, in this case, would be protected. ... He'll have a really good plan together."

If he puts that kind of game plan together -- the kind that can change a game and put even the best offenses in a bind -- this team will have a great chance on Saturday.

And in every other big game the Nittany Lions play this season.