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BWI Live: What hiring Jim Knowles means to Penn State and James Franklin

Headshot 5x7 reduced qualityby:Thomas Frank Carr•01/28/25•

ThomasFrankCarr

It’s rare for the Penn State Nittany Lions Football team to dominate the college sports news cycle the way they have since Sunday afternoon. Head coach James Franklin sent shockwaves through the sport this week by hiring defensive coordinator Jim Knowles away from the Ohio State Buckeyes just days after Knowles won a championship with his former team. That story will dominate our conversation, much like the rest of college football on today’s BWI Live Show.

However, that won’t be the only thing we discuss because there’s always something brewing with the Lions. Join us for an hour of Penn State football talk that includes a recruiting update, a breakdown of the latest commit with the program, and your questions on the BWI Mailbag.

Penn State is just days away from the unofficial start of the 2025 season in February. Join us by subscribing to the Blue White Illustrated YouTube Channel so you don’t miss any updates from winter conditioning, the freshman introduction that happens next month, and more! Penn State’s march toward another college football playoff run starts now!

What Knowles means to the larger picture around Penn State

Most Penn State fans know the details surrounding Knowles’ move from Columbus to Happy Valley by this point. So today, we’ll discuss the larger impact of Franklin’s move to make Knowles the highest-paid coordinator in college football. We’ll discuss the team’s efforts to join the elites in the sport and why Knowles’ impact goes beyond what he can do on the field as a coordiantor.

However, that last part is also important, so we’ll discuss what changes you might see to the Penn State defensive personality and the team’s approach to different aspects of the game.

Fitz’s recruiting Update

Penn State also got a new commitment this weekend amid the flurry of activity off the field. New Jersey cornerback Julian Peterson committed to the program on Saturday evening in an under-the-radar signing by the Nittany Lions to get the defensive secondary on the board in the Class of 2026.

Recruiting expert Sean Fitz discusses the impact of his signing, the response to Penn State’s first junior day, and more! There’s also good news surrounding one of the team’s top commits for the upcoming cycle.

BWI Mailbag

We’ll be discussing your feedback and thoughts throughout the show but we’ll end our Tuesday BWI Live Show with a segment dedicated to you! Join us live for the BWI Mailbag, in which we take questions from members at Blue White Illustrated and answer them live on air. Subscribe now and check out the message board thread to submit your questions each week.

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