The Tennessee Vols hired Jim Knowles as the program’s new defensive coordinator in December.

Knowles, who previously served as the defensive coordinator at Ohio State and Penn State, was hired to replace Tim Banks.

When the Vols first parted ways with Banks, Knowles is a name that was quickly mentioned by fans and media.

Knowles worked for former Vols offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe for eight seasons at Duke, but he didn’t have any other well-known connections to Tennessee that were public. As a result, most dismissed the idea that Knowles would be a fit for the Vols and moved on to other candidates.

Jim Knowles had a stronger connection to Tennessee than most folks realized

Knowles joined The Mike Keith Show on Thursday for his first public appearance since taking over as Tennessee’s defensive coordinator.

The Philadelphia native revealed that his daughter actually graduated from Tennessee.

“My daughter went to school here,” said Knowles. “She’s 30 now and married. But she’s always been my biggest fan. So her and I kind of had a silent pact or hope that someday I would coach here. As it all started to come together, she was sending me Rocky Top videos and she was just over the top excited. So I felt like that was something that was in the stars.”

You just never know what connections a coach may have (not everything goes on the Wikipedia page).

Knowles, by the way, also discussed his time with Cutcliffe during his sit-down with Keith.

“Coach Cutcliffe is like a father to me,” said Knowles. “And his relationship with Tennessee and Peyton Manning was always talked about. And he loved it here. I’ve heard all about how great the people are — down to all the fantastic equipment people and all of the people in the background.

“Coach Cut always spoke so highly of that. And he had a major influence in my life in terms of how to leave a place better than you found it…I mean, I have all these David Cutcliffe sayings that run through my mind all the time. And I have definitely kept in touch with him over the years. He’s been a big supporter of my career. And even though he was an offensive guy, he and I sat down during my time at Duke and really continued to work on what I did defensively and I got a lot of great input from Coach Cut.”

I’m sure Cutcliffe, who is currently the Special Assistant to the Commissioner for Football Relations, will make his way to Knoxville this spring to check in on his old friend.

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