It's finally official on Duke's end: Jim Knowles, formerly Cornell's head coach, will join David Cutcliffe's staff as a co-defensive coordinator, the program announced Monday.
Knowles replaces Mike MacIntyre, who left to become head coach at San Jose State, while Marion Hobby, his co-defensive coordinator, has also been promoted to assistant head coach. Knowles will focus on the safeties, with Hobby maintaining his place with the defensive line and Jim Collins on linebackers.
Knowles was on staff at Ole Miss with Cutcliffe in 2003, becoming the fifth Duke assistant who worked in Oxford, too.
On to the statements...
...first, from Cutcliffe:
"We are thrilled to have Coach Knowles rejoin our staff," Cutcliffe said. "Jim played a big role in the success of our 2003 team at Ole Miss, so I know what we're getting in terms of his personality, work ethic and football knowledge. His understanding of defensive football is at the head of the class and our players will enjoy playing under his leadership. His experience as a head coach certainly will pay dividends within our program, and on top of his coaching abilities, we know he'll be a great fit on our staff because we're so familiar with each other."
And a few from Knowles:
“In our profession, it’s about the people,” Knowles said. “Coach Cutcliffe is one of the most respected coaches in our profession. I’ve worked for him in the past and he’s a fantastic head coach to work for. Coach Cut is an amazing family guy who treats the entire staff with great respect. Cornell will always have a special place in my heart. But there is a time and a place for everything, and I felt like I was ready for a new challenge."“This is a very emotional decision,” Knowles said. “Cornell has been a major factor in my life from the time I was recruited out of high school from an inner city environment. Cornell opened up my world and changed my life. I started my coaching career here and to be able to come back and be the head coach was a dream come true. We didn’t get as many wins as I would have liked, but I know the program is in really great shape. We accomplished a lot of the objectives that I wanted to in terms of connecting the players to the alumni and getting the alumni back involved in the program. And fund raising has tripled since I’ve been here. There are a lot of great feelings about Cornell football and I will continue to be a big fan and help the program in any way I can. I’ll always have the head coaching experience now. That really opens your eyes to a lot of things and I’ll be a better assistant coach because of it."
“I worked with much of the Duke staff at Ole Miss and we were very successful," Knowles said. "I’m looking forward to being with those guys again. I remember how enjoyable it was to go to work. You have a good time and you’re able to challenge each other professionally with schemes on offense, defense and special teams. It is all about trust and selflessness when you have a great staff and that’s what those guys have."
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