This is not Jim Knowles’ first rodeo. He actually knows what he is doing. It shows.

Josh Heupel made a smart move in granting the new defensive coordinator the authority to choose his assistant coaches. That improved Tennessee’s chances of success.

Knowles and his staff made a very smart move in vacuuming the transfer portal for former Penn State players who are one year old in his defensive scheme. They’ll be student coaches and how-to-do-it examples in spring practice.

The big win so far is Chaz Coleman, 6-4 and 247, No. 1 edge rusher in the portal. Chaz is the probable solution to one of the Vols’ most obvious needs. Ohio State and LSU were among the many teams that wanted him.

Linebacker Amare Campbell, 6-0 and 230, is a projected starter. The All-Big Ten third-team selection led Penn State in tackles (103) in 2025. He played two seasons at North Carolina.

Knowles spoke highly of the freshman Coleman, at one point referring to him as the “Chazmanian Devil … he’s just a really disruptive guy.”

The veteran linebacker Campbell is a natural for helping others learn the system. He is said to be a very high IQ player.

Knowles made a smart move in wanting old pro Rodney Garner to continue as defensive line coach of the Volunteers. Jim probably couldn’t have improved that position more than half a notch if he had searched the country.

The coordinator did bring a good Tennessee name, Andrew Jackson, assistant defensive line coach at Penn State. He’ll coach Vol LEOs, the combination defensive end-linebacker-edge rusher.

Jackson has never been president but he has 13 years of defensive line coaching experience.

Knowles said: “AJ is a tremendous pass rush technician and does a great job teaching the game.”

It was OK for Knowles to keep William Inge as coach of linebackers. They didn’t perform all that well this past season but they’ll improve. The young ones are faster.

Knowles has coached linebackers in the past. He and Inge will work together to get fundamentals – tackling nearer the line of scrimmage and receiver coverage over the middle – the way the coordinator wants them.

From all appearances, Inge is a very good recruiter. Based on the recent Rose Bowl, it looks like Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer erred in letting him get away.

Knowles’ most strategic move so far was stabilizing the secondary outlook. Safeties are the key to Knowles’ varied strategy and he acquired a star to coach that position.

Anthony Poindexter

Anthony Poindexter is in the College Football Hall of Fame as a fierce hitter, a former Virginia all-American safety. He has a Super Bowl XXXV ring from the 2000 Baltimore Ravens. For the past five seasons, he was co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Penn State.

Hooray, hooray: Matt Campbell, new head coach of the Nittany Lions, brought his safeties coach with him from Iowa State. Poindexter was available to continue his partnership with Knowles.

Said Dex: “It’s a tremendous honor to rejoin Coach Knowles at a place that has as rich a tradition as Tennessee. I want to thank Coach Heupel for this opportunity. I look forward to building relationships with our current players and future Vols as we build a championship culture in our secondary.”

Coach Knowles reached back for Michael Hunter to coach cornerbacks. They worked together at Oklahoma State and Ohio State.

Hunter played cornerback at Indiana, Oklahoma State and for the New York Giants.

The 2026 defensive staff has a combined 101 years of Power Four coaching experience. It has produced more than 70 NFL draft picks. All six have coached in playoffs or really big games with championship connotations.

“We are excited about the experienced defensive staff,” Heupel said. “This group has a long, distinguished record of outstanding recruiting, player development and coaching technique in either the Big Ten or SEC.”

Smart quote, Coach. Sounds good. So, what can you say about a quarterback?

Marvin West welcomes comments or questions from readers. His address is marvinwest75@gmail.com