How Jim Knowles’ daughter, David Cutcliffe bought him to Tennessee soccer

[ad_1] New Tennessee defensive coordinator Jim Knowles stated his job interview with coach Josh Heupel was the very best of his profession.

However by then, Knowles’ daughter, a UT alumnus, had talked up the Vols for greater than a decade.

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“My daughter (Halle) went to highschool right here. She’s 30 now and married. However she’s all the time been my greatest fan,” Knowles stated throughout a long-form interview on “The Mike Keith Present,” which streamed on YouTube on Jan. 22.

“Her and I sort of had a silent pact or hope that sometime I'd coach right here. As it began to return collectively, she was sending me Rocky High movies. She was simply over-the-top excited. So I felt like that was one thing within the stars.”

That push from Knowles' daughter was adopted by a go to to Knoxville in early December that left fairly an impression on the veteran coach.

"Attending to know Coach Heupel and spending time with him and his spouse after I got here down with my fiancé, it was the very best expertise I’ve ever had when it comes to interviewing and taking a look at a job," Knowles stated. "Simply in the best way he got here throughout, he very down-to-earth but severe on the similar time.

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"I've all the time been impressed by (Heupel’s) management, and I’ve adopted him from afar. Attending to spend time with him speaking soccer and listening to his philosophy on easy methods to win, it positively bought me."

How Tennessee coaches formed Jim Knowles' early profession Knowles was employed on Dec. 11 to exchange fired defensive coordinator Tim Banks. He's thought to be probably the greatest veteran defensive coordinators in school soccer, so his addition to Heupel’s employees was among the many marquee teaching acquisitions of this offseason.

Knowles, 60, has been in teaching for 38 years, and that’s included some influential ties to Tennessee coaches.

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Knowles labored underneath former Tennessee quarterbacks coach Jim Hofher at Cornell from 1990-97, when Hofher was head coach there. Knowles was simply 25 years outdated when he took that job.

“Coach Hofher was a younger head coach at Cornell, and I used to be a younger assistant. So I actually tried to emulate him,” Knowles stated. “And his expertise at Tennessee was implausible. You recognize Tennessee has been within the background of my total teaching profession.”

Knowles left Cornell in 1997 to grow to be the line of defense coach at Western Michigan, the place he labored underneath former Tennessee Tech coach Gary Darnell. They devised a 4-2-5 defensive scheme that’s nonetheless influential within the sport.

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“Collectively we actually created this entire 4-2-5 protection when it was simply coming into play,” Knowles stated. “(Darnell) had ties to (former TCU coach and present USC defensive coordinator) Gary Patterson, so we bought to spend so much of time with him. We formulated our (protection) off of what Coach Patterson did.”

Knowles’ six seasons at Western Michigan led him to David Cutcliffe, who stays among the many most influential coaches in his profession.

'Coach Cutcliffe is sort of a father to me' Knowles was Cutcliffe’s linebackers coach at Ole Miss in 2003 and his defensive coordinator at Duke from 2010-17.

Earlier than that, Cutcliffe was Tennessee’s offensive coordinator throughout Peyton Manning’s ascension, adopted by the 1998 nationwide title run.

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Knowles nonetheless has an in depth relationship with Cutcliffe, 71, who now serves as SEC particular assistant for soccer relations.

“Coach Cutcliffe is sort of a father to me,” Knowles stated. “His relationship with Tennessee and Peyton Manning was all the time talked about, and he beloved it right here. I heard all about how nice all of the persons are, all the best way right down to the implausible tools individuals and the individuals within the background.

“Coach Minimize all the time spoke so extremely of that.”

Knowles can hardly get by way of a soccer dialog with out quoting Cutcliffe’s favourite sayings.

“He had a significant affect in my life when it comes to (sayings like) 'easy methods to depart a spot higher than you discovered it' and '{that a} good carpenter doesn’t complain about his instruments,'” Knowles stated. “I've all these David Cutcliffe sayings that run by way of my thoughts on a regular basis. I’ve positively saved in contact with him through the years. And he’s been an enormous supporter of profession.”

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Knowles was already a profitable coach earlier than he labored with Cutcliffe, however his elite work got here after he left Duke in 2017.

Knowles constructed Oklahoma State right into a premier protection. In 2021, the Cowboys ranked ninth in scoring protection (18.1 ppg). In 2024, his Ohio State unit led the nation in scoring protection (12.9 ppg) and whole protection (254.6 ypg) en path to a nationwide championship. He spent the 2025 season at Penn State earlier than coming to Tennessee.

“Although (Cutcliffe) was an offensive man, he and I sat down throughout my time at Duke and actually continued to work on what I did defensively,” Knowles stated. “I bought quite a lot of enter from Coach Minimize.”

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee soccer beat reporter. E mail adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, previously generally known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Assist sturdy native journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

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This text initially appeared on Knoxville Information Sentinel: Jim Knowles credit daughter, David Cutcliffe for getting him to Tennessee soccer

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