The Frank Broyles Award recognizes college football’s top assistant coach each year, and there’s not a candidate whose case holds a candle to Jim Knowles’ in 2021.
On Tuesday, Knowles, OSU’s defensive coordinator, was among 15 coaches announced as semifinalist for the award. He would be the first Cowboy assistant to earn the award, in its 26th edition. Last season, Knowles became the first OSU coach to be nominated for it.
Of the 15 semifinalists, only five are defensive coordinators and in that group is some stiff competition including Georgia’s Dan Lanning and Texas A&M’s Mike Elko.