TALLAHASSEE – Florida State has hired Terrance Knighton as the football program’s defensive line coach, FSU head coach Mike Norvell announced Friday.
Knighton has quickly risen to prominence coaching defensive linemen, building on a seven-year NFL playing career with coaching roles in the NFL and in two different college programs. He spent the 2023 and 2024 seasons as Nebraska’s defensive line coach after two years as a coaching assistant for the Carolina Panthers working with the defensive line.
“Terrance Knighton is a rising star in the coaching profession,” Norvell said. “He’s earned success as a player and a coach, both in college and in the NFL. He knows what it takes to be an elite defensive lineman and to impact games as a defensive line group. He has first-hand experience as a top player, and as a coach Terrance has been part of developing one of the best defensive lines in the country. I’m looking forward to seeing how he helps our defensive line continue to uphold the Florida State standard.”
In 2024, Nebraska ranked 14th nationally in rushing defense, 19th in total defense and 20th in scoring defense. The Huskers held five opponents to 10 or fewer points and six opponents to fewer than 300 yards of total offense, including limiting Ohio State to 285 yards when the Buckeyes entered the game averaging more than 500 yards of total offense. The Huskers allowed only six rushing touchdowns, the third-fewest in the nation, and held 10 opponents without a rushing touchdown, including all seven at home. Nebraska kept all its home opponents out of the end zone on the ground for the first time since 1939 and was the first team nationally since 2021 to not allow a rushing touchdown at home.
