The Tennessee football team is expected to hire Penn State assistant coach Andrew Jackson to serve as Jim Knowles’ defensive back, CBS Sports reported on January 1.
Tennessee has not yet announced the hiring of Jackson. This is usually only done after a contract or memorandum of understanding has been signed.
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Jackson’s position is unclear, but his background suggests he will be in the defensive front seven.
In 2025, Jackson served as a defensive analyst and assistant defensive line coach at Penn State, working under Knowles.
Jackson was the defensive line coach at Fordham (2017), Old Dominion (2020) and West Virginia (2021-24). He served as the defensive quality control coach at Mississippi State (2018) and the defensive tackles coach at James Madison University (2019). He was also a defensive line graduate assistant at Penn State (2015-16).
Jackson is working under Knowles at Penn State during the 2025 season. In December, Tennessee coach Josh Hueper hired Knowles to replace fired defensive coordinator Tim Banks.
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Tennessee currently has three position coaches among its top seven on defense. Defensive line coach Rodney Garner’s contract expires on Jan. 31, 2026, but he is expected to renew. Outside linebackers/rushers coach Levorn “Chop” Harbin and linebackers coach William Inge are under contract through January 2027.
But UT also has a large roster of analysts, so Jackson could fill a role there as well.
Adam Sparks is a Tennessee football reporter. e-mail adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@adamsparks. Support strong local journalism with a subscription knoxnews.com/subscribe.
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This article originally appeared in the Knoxville News-Sentinel: Andrew Jackson: Tennessee football team reportedly expected to hire Penn State assistant coach
