The 'Mad Scientist' Who's Conquering College Football

In a college football world obsessed with five-star recruits and million-dollar quarterbacks, it's not a player, but a 60-year-old assistant coach who's grabbing the spotlight—and the paycheck. The Wall Street Journal reports that when Penn State lured defensive coordinator Jim Knowles away from national champion Ohio State, it didn't just poach the defensive "Mad Scientist" with a Wall Street background and a playbook brimming with chaos-inducing blitzes. Penn State shelled out $3.1 million a year, which is half a million dollars more than any other assistant in college football makes—and more than 65 head coaches in Division I. "It's a big get," Penn State coach James Franklin said.

The path to being ranked for On3's No. 2 defensive coordinator in college football seems pulled from a movie script. After playing in college at Cornell, Knowles took a detour through Wall Street before realizing it wasn't his calling. Instead, he started building defensive college football schemes like financial models—searching for weaknesses, reading patterns, and capitalizing on inefficiencies. That earned him a job as head coach at his alma mater in 2004, followed by an assistant role at other small programs like Western Michigan. "Jim, basically, is a very, very intelligent man," said former Western Michigan coach Gary Darnell. "I wouldn't want to play poker with him." Knowles' innovative designs—like the "Natural Disaster" blitz—helped him rise to top-tier jobs. At Oklahoma State, he turned the 85th-ranked defense into a top-10 unit. At Ohio State, he crafted the No. 1 defense in the country.

But when OSU hesitated on his contract extension at the end of last season, Knowles started looking into other opportunities. And when he wasn't invited to the championship parade, he took that as his cue. Now at Penn State, he's not only bringing his mind-bending schemes—he's streamlined how he teaches them. Pro Football Network reports that Knowles responded to allegations his defenses can be too complicated and time-consuming to learn, and said something ominous for opposing teams: "It needs to be somewhat complicated because you need to have answers for everything, particularly at this level," he said. "I think I've developed a process that helps move it along at a more rapid pace."