James Franklin, who had been in hot pursuit of a big-name defensive coordinator to replace Tom Allen, plucked Jim Knowles from national champion Ohio State. If Knowles isn’t the top DC in the nation, he is on the short list.

Penn State has officially hired Jim Knowles away from Ohio State to be its next defensive coordinator. The news of the massive change broke Sunday and was officially announced by the university on Monday following a Board of Trustees committee meeting.

The Nittany Lions reportedly made the former Ohio State assistant college football's highest-paid defensive coordinator.