Jim Knowles brings his long-running tradition to Penn State; who is his first defender of the day?
If you scroll first-year Penn State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles‘ Twitter feed, you’ll quickly discover two things. The first is that he doesn’t send out many messages on the social media app. And the second is that, when he does, it’s almost always a defender of the day from either a practice or a game. The tradition dates back to the Philadelphia native’s first preseason camp at Oklahoma State, and it stretches through his time at Ohio State. A quote always accompanies each selection, and is tied to why that player was the pick. And now, Knowles’ first pick at Penn State is in.
The Nittany Lions kicked off spring practice on Tuesday. The team is back on the field Thursday night. Second-year Penn State cornerback AJ Harris was the defender of the day from practice one. The junior from Phenix City, Ala., is expected to be a leader not just of his position group but also the defense as a whole in 2024. The quote Knowles went with to announce his selection reflects that. “The speed of the leader determines the rate of the pack,” it reads.
Harris came to Penn State in 2024 following a season at Georgia. He quickly won a starting job and ultimately led the Lions’ cornerbacks with 729 snaps. That was the fifth most on the defense, regardless of position. A unanimous All-Big Ten third-team selection a year ago, Harris finished with 15 starts in 16 games. He made 48 tackles (four for loss), and also had an interception and five pass breakups.
Harris is ready for year two at Penn State
Based on how he was talked about all spring and summer, Harris’ emergence as a reliable playmaker was no surprise. Penn State coach James Franklin raved about him many times over the course of the year. In November, he was asked when he realized Harris would be as good as he ended up being.
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“A.J. is a little bit different because you’re talking about bringing a guy in as a redshirt freshman, which is unusual, typically, from the transfer portal,” Franklin said. Just a very highluy recruited young man that we were involved with out of high school, but once he showed up on campus, he bought into everything we asked him to do. Tested really well physically. And then just embraced the competition in that room.
“So it was probably early on, because one of the first things we do is baseline testing and kind of check all the boxes from a measurement standpoint, and then he was able to pick up the scheme. The thing to me that’s exciting is I don’t think he’s scratched the surface. I think there’s a ton left for him — and I think he’s playing at a high level — but I think there’s a ton left for improvement there. And I think Terry is the right guy to coach him.”
