Who could the Cowboys hire to replace Jim Knowles?

Mike Gundy clearly hit a home run when hiring Jim Knowles away from Duke four years ago, but now that a program with a bigger pocketbook pulled away Oklahoma State’s first defensive coordinator to be a finalist for the Broyles Award, where does Gundy look for Knowles’ replacement?

Here is a list of potential candidates Gundy could/should look into, including looking in-house to longtime position coaches who have been dedicated to the program.

Joe Bob Clements, Oklahoma State

Joe Bob Clements has been a defensive line coach for Oklahoma State since January 2013 after coaching at his alma mater, Kansas State. The Cowboy defensive line has produced top talent during Clements’ tenure with seven first-team All-Big 12 defensive linemen – the most recent being Brock Martin this past season. Some of the talent Clements has coached have gone on to have NFL careers, including former first-round pick Emmanuel Ogbah, as well as Vincent Taylor. This year, Oklahoma State’s front four – coached by both Clements and co-defensive line coach Greg Richmond – helped Knowles’ defense finish first in the country in team sacks (55) and first in tackles for loss (110).

Clements was the primary recruiter of Martin, as well as some of the younger talent on the squad from the state of Oklahoma, such as Edmond Santa Fe products Trace Ford and Collin Oliver – who was named the Big 12 Conference Defensive Freshman of the Year, and Tuesday was named a a Pro Football Focus Freshman All-American after being named a semifinalist for the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year award earlier this week.

Clements started his coaching career as a student assistant at Kansas State in 1999 and was eventually elevated to defensive ends coach at his alma mater in 2003. Aside from a two-year stint as the defensive line coach at San Diego State in 2006-07 – during the Ron Prince era at Kansas State – Clements has been entrenched in the Big 12 Conference. He was the defensive line coach under Mark Mangino in 2008, before returning to K-State in 2009 with Bill Snyder’s return.

Tim Duffie, Oklahoma State

Tim Duffie knows the Cowboys’ system well. 

He has coached at OSU since March 2013, the same year Glenn Spencer was promoted to defensive coordinator. When Jim Knowles replaced Spencer in 2018, Duffie, a Texas Tech alumnus, remained on staff. 

If Gundy wants to make an in-house hire, then cornerbacks coach Duffie, who has also coached safeties, is an option who has already shown his abilities to develop talent. Duffie has coached multiple athletes who continued their careers in the NFL. He has worked with All-Big 12 first-team honorees Kevin Peterson and Jordan Sterns, as well as second-team honorees A.J. Green, Rodarius Williams and Daytawion Lowe. 

Duffie has participated in Knowles’ transformation of the Cowboy defense, so the group wouldn’t have to start from scratch if he was in charge. This means he could also continue to build the bonds that Knowles’ staff has established with up-and-coming recruits. 

Before coaching at OSU, Duffie gained experience at Wake Forest, Colorado State and UTEP.

Doug Belk, Houston

Gundy could try to poach from a future Big 12 Conference foe before they arrive in the conference. Doug Belk, the defensive coordinator for Dana Holgorsen in Houston, had the only defense better than Oklahoma State this year in terms of third-down conversion percentage. The Cougars ranked first with a 25.6 percent against opposing offenses. With that, they were sixth in the country in yards allowed per game with 297.2 – nearly 20 yards behind Oklahoma State, which ranked third. In turn, the Houston defense ranked in the top 30 in scoring defense – tied for 27th with 21 points per game.

Having been at Houston for three years, he obviously would have a good feel for the large recruiting base that Oklahoma State once had a solid pipeline into but has struggled to pull from in recent years. Belk also spent several years as an assistant coach at Valdosta State in Georgia and was a graduate assistant for cornerbacks in Alabama from 2014-16, so he may be able to bolster a weak recruiting pipeline for the Cowboys into the South.

What may be difficult in pulling Belk away from Houston is his dedication to Holgorsen. Belk was with Holgorsen in West Virginia as the cornerbacks coach and made the move with Holgorsen to Houston in 2019. Prior to the 2020 season, his place at Holgorsen’s side was solidified when he was promoted to associate head coach.

However, Belk is only making $500,000 a year with Houston, and with Gundy proclaiming the new administration is willing to devote itself to building the football program to a new level, the amount they could offer Belk – even if it's the same as what Knowles was being paid under his initial contract at Oklahoma State ($800,000) – would almost double Belk’s yearly salary.

Jess Loepp, UTSA

There are several reasons Jess Loepp could be a strong candidate for the Cowboys. 

He has Oklahoma roots, Texas recruiting connections and a resume that includes recognition as a 2021 Broyles Award semifinalist. 

During Loepp’s second season as co-defensive coordinator, UTSA boasts a 12-1 overall record, a 7-1 Conference USA record and its first conference title in program history. The Roadrunners have held their opponents to an average of 23.6 points per game, and they’re one of only five FBS teams to score at least five defensive touchdowns this season. 

At OSU, Loepp could offer defensive insight and valuable recruiting skills. Before his promotion to co-defensive coordinator, he was UTSA’s safeties coach and recruiting coordinator. The Cowboys always maintain strong Texas connections, and Loepp could help them tap into a San Antonio recruiting base. He also has experience at Arkansas, Rice, SMU and Tulsa. 

Loepp has spent several years away from Oklahoma, but coaching at OSU could give him an opportunity to return home. He has multiple Oklahoma ties – he hails from the tiny town of Turpin, received his undergraduate degree from UCO and went to graduate school at Tulsa. If he wants to live in Oklahoma while elevating his coaching career, then OSU could be an appealing option.

Joe Rossi, Minnesota

Joe Rossi is an East Coast guy, with previous stops at Maine and Rutgers and has been a jack of all trades in terms of position coaching. His current role with the Golden Gophers is defensive coordinator and linebackers coach – which was the same at Thiel College (a Division III program in Pennsylvania) in the early 2000s, as well as at Maine – while he also coached defensive backs at Maine and safeties at Rutgers. He also had a short stint as the defensive line coach at Minnesota before being promoted to coordinator and taking over the linebackers.

In 2019, the Gophers ranked 10th in the nation in total defense, allowing 306.6 yards a contest, which was the program’s lowest since 1977. But that has been improved upon this season, with Minnesota ranked fourth in the country – right behind OSU – with 288 yards per game. This year’s Minnesota team also ranks 17th in third-down conversions with a 45.6 percentage. It has amounted to the Gophers ranking right behind the Cowboys in scoring defense at 18.25 points per game.

Oklahoma State wouldn’t necessarily have to break the bank to try to pursue Rossi. According to reports in May, he signed a two-year contract that paid him $650,000 per year – less than Knowles had been making at Oklahoma State – with a buyout of $125,000.

Chad Staggs, Coastal Carolina

Chad Staggs has been the defensive coordinator for the past three years and has been a defensive coordinator at FCS programs going back to 2009. He was originally hired to Coastal Carolina as a linebackers coach in early 2019 before being elevated to coordinator.

In 2020, he was nominated for the Broyles Award for college football’s top assistant coach – which Knowles was a finalist for this season – as his defense helped Coastal Carolina win its first Sun Belt Conference title in an 11-1 season. Staggs' defense led the Sun Belt in fumble recoveries (nine), and the Chanticleers were second in interceptions (16) – which ranked third nationally. That same year, the Chanticleers played in the program’s first FBS bowl game.

This season, Staggs’ defense was one of the top in the country. CCU ranked 19th in scoring defense, giving up 20 points per game, and ranked 33rd in the country in third-down conversion percentage (.354). The Chanticleers ranked 42nd in sacks with 2.67 per game, and were tied for 27th in tackles for a loss with 80.

Most of Staggs’ coaching experience is focused in South Carolina, which may be a benefit for Mike Gundy in terms of trying to recruit the South. The Cowboys have tried to create pipelines into rich recruiting ground outside of Texas – most notably getting a few Georgia recruits in recent years – and drawing in somebody who has deep roots in the South could allow the Cowboys to improve ground in other fertile recruiting locations.