Knowles a Candidate for Defensive Coordinator at Illinois

STILLWATER – Football Scoop reported in a story earlier Monday evening that Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles interviewed for the defensive coordinator position on new University of Illinois head coach Bret Bielema’s staff. While this appears to be a position that the defensive coordinator at Oklahoma State would not consider. Illinois is stuck in mediocrity which is why they made another coaching change to Bielema. The last winning season for the Illini was in 2011. Illinois went 7-6 in 2011 and the season before in 2010. Since then they have been 32-72 including a 2-6 record this past fall.

Knowles is coming off his third season at Oklahoma State with the most success he has had so far. The Oklahoma State defense finished averaging allowing only 23.5 points and 379-yards a game. The Cowboys were tops in the nation in third-down defense at 26.5 percent. Knowles defense was responsible for closing out several wins this season including Tulsa, West Virginia, Iowa State, Kansas State, and while the overall numbers weren’t great, there were two fourth down stops on two series at the end of the 37-34 bowl win over Miami, Fla. that sealed the win in the Cheez-It Bowl.

Ironically, after the Cheez-It Bowl while he was smoking a victory cigar in the parking lot outside the Cowboys locker room, Knowles told me he was going to be out of town for a week or so once the team arrived home. He did not say where. Also, ironically, we had discussed the Illinois hiring of Bielema earlier during bowl practice as I had told him my son had established a good relationship with Bielema when Bielema had been the head coach at Arkansas. Knowles was also talking after the Cheez-It Bowl win about his excitement over linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez and safety Tre Sterling announcing their return.

“We’ve got a chance to get some more guys back and we can be in real good shape for next season,” Knowles said.

The Football Scoop report cited that Knowles interviewed with Illinois on Sunday and that Ryan Walters at Missouri and Josh Conklin at Wofford had also interviewed. The decision by Bielema could come down as early as Tuesday.  

Checking both Knowles’ resume’ and that of Bielema, there is no point where the two coached together, coached in the same conference, or even met up in competition. 

As for why Knowles, who made $800,000 this past year as defensive coordinator at Oklahoma State, might be looking. It could be because of the fractious relationship between athletic director Mike Holder and the football staff. There were some tense feelings and frustration coming out of the negotiation in the summer over pay cuts or salary reductions because of COVID-19 and the decrease in revenue in athletics. The football assistant coaches, with one exception in Tim Duffie, were under contract and there was disagreement over the amount of reduction with the coaches originally asked to give up 40 percent. The coaches said they volunteered 20 percent with part of that being made up by their annual bowl bonus (one month’s salary). One coach told me that was initially accepted. The next day he said that deal was rejected and the request was for more from the football coaches. The issue was a stalemate from that point and the assistant coaches said they continued to make the same offer but nothing was ever settled.

Head coach Mike Gundy was not involved in this as he had taken a pay reduction over the summer after the review into the football issues and his job following the Chuba Hubbard protest. There was a subsequent review of Gundy and his relationship with the players.

There continues to be hard feelings over the money issue, at least on the part of the coaches. What effect that has this off season will be something to keep an eye on.

It’s hard to know what Illinois will pay the defensive coordinator. The previous head coach Lovie Smith was his own defensive coordinator, but the offensive coordinator was paid $750,000 last season and would have made $800,000 in the 2021 season. 

Bielema reportedly agreed to a four-year contract at $4.2-million per season. That puts him the upper echelon of college head coach salaries and ahead of Gundy after the salary reduction Gundy accepted in the summer.