For the first time since James Franklin arrived in 2014, Penn State will start a season with three new coordinators. That’s not all that’s new about the staff assembled in 2024 by the 11th-year leader of the Nittany Lions, of course. However, many familiar faces do return for anywhere from their second to 11th season in State College, and some even pre-date the Franklin era in State College.
Below, we introduce you to everyone who has a hand in this year’s Penn State team, from the on-field coaches to support staff and much more.
Meet the Penn State on-field staff
Franklin enter seasons 11 in State College. Only one of his assistant coaches, Terry Smith, remains from his first staff back in 2014. However, aside from the obviously big changes at the coordinator spots, all of the assistants otherwise return.
Head coach – James Franklin (11th season)
Offensive coordinator – Andy Kotelnick (first season)
Defensive coordinator – Tom Allen (first season)
Special teams coordinator/outside linebackers and nickels coach – Justin Lustig (first season)
Associate head coach/defensive recruiting coordinator/cornerbacks coach – Terry Smith (11th season)
Assistant head coach/co-offensive coordinator/running backs coach – Ja’Juan Seider (seventh season)
Co-offensive coordinator/tight ends – Ty Howle (fifth season)
Offensive line coach – Phil Trautwein (fifth season)
Co-defensive coordinator/safeties – Anthony Poindexter (fourth season)
Receivers coach/offensive recruiting coordinator: Marques Hagans (second season)
Defensive line coach: Deion Barnes (second season)
Who are the Nittany Lions’ graduate assistants?
This section looks different than it did a year ago. As BWI reported last week, Danny O’Brien, who switched from an analyst role to a graduate assistant role before the 2023 season, is back in an analyst position and serves as the program’s de-facto quarterbacks coach. So, Penn State enters the 2024 slate with just three GAs, which is not a big deal, considering that analysts can now perform on-field coaching duties. The lone newcomer is former Penn State defensive back Jordan Lucas, who replaces Bryce Jones.
Offense: Kevin Ceh (second year, will have offensive line focus)
Defense: Torrence Brown (second year; Lions letterman will have defensive line focus); Jordan Lucas (first year, will work with the secondary)
Penn State analysts
Penn State will have 15 analysts in 2023. Last year, it had 12. In 2022, it had 10. So, this department continues to grow. The newcomers are defensive analysts Thomas Allen (son of Tom), Vic Hall, Jeff McInerney, and Zach Terrill, special teams analyst Keith Bruno, and offensive analysts Mark Dupis and Bill Queisert. Because analysts can have an on-field role now, we will include below their likely area of work during practices.
Thomas Allen: Defensive analyst / general defense
Keith Bruno: Special teams analyst
Dan Connor: Defensive analyst / linebackers
Mark Dupuis: Offensive analyst /receivers
Vic Hall: Defensive analyst / cornerbacks
Frank Leonard: Offensive analyst/offensive line
Jeff McInerney: Defensive analyst/general defense
Danny O’Brien: Offense analyst/quarterbacks
David Parker: Offensive analyst/receivers
Bill Queisert: Offensive analyst/offensive line
David Rocco: Offensive analyst/general offense
Eric Sachse: Special teams analyst
Robb Smith: Offensive analyst/offense and defense
Zach Terrill: Defensive analyst/general defense
Charles Walker: Offensive analyst/running backs
Meet the Lions’ recruiting staff
Longtime James Franklin staff member Andy Frank leads this group as the General Manager of Personnel and Recruitment. His righthand man is ace recruiter Kenny Sanders. This department looks fairly similar to how it did a year ago. The lone newcomer is Karsyn Kehler.
Here’s the recruiting department staff list:
Andy Frank – General manager of personnel and recruitment
Kenny Sanders – Director of player personnel
Caleb Tyler – Director of recruiting content
Bob Palko – Director of high school relations
Khalil Ahmad – Recruiting coordinator for personnel and recruitment
D.J. Bryant – Recruiting coordinator for personnel and recruitment
Catherine Kennedy – Recruiting coordinator for operations and visits
Chris Mahon – Recruiting coordinator for personnel and recruitment
Alan Zemaitis – Recruiting coordinator for personnel and recruitment
Rashad Elby – Assistant recruiting coordinator for personnel and recruitment
Karsyn Kehler – Assistant recruiting coordinator for operations and visits
Rashad Rich – Assistant recruiting coordinator for personnel and recruitment
If you see Penn State coach James Franklin on game day, there’s a good chance Kevin Threlkel and/or Destiny Rodriguez are in the area, too. That duo makes up two of the four key members of this staff.
Kevin Threlkel – Associate athletic director, Chief of Staff
Ben Kerr – Director of Football Administration
Will Reimann – Director of Football Research and Strategy
Destiny Rodriguez – Director of External Operations
Chuck Losey is the university’s associate athletic director for performance enhancement for football. The sports performance staff remains the same except for one key change: Lions letterman Andrew Nelson replaces Josh Nelson as the Director of Performance Science. Josh Nelson left for the NFL following the 2023 season.
Alvin Futrell – Associate director of performance enhancement
Jeff Earls – Assistant director of performance enhancement
Jon Fleury – Assistant director of performance enhancement
Tyrone Smith – Assistant director of performance enhancement
Leanne Louden -Director of Football Nutrition
Andrew Nelson – Director of Performance Science
Player development and video staffs
Penn State now has six people across these two departments, up from five a year ago. The first focuses on anything from NIL to community service initiatives, player interactions with fans, schools, and the like, and engagement opportunities. The latter is obvious: It runs the film operation for the program.
Dann Kabala – Director of Football Player Relations
Brett Arnold – Assistant Director of Player Relations
Lauren Geppert – Director of Player Engagement
Jordan Hill – Director of Life Skills
Jevin Stone – Director of Coaching Technology
Blake Yunker – Assistant Video Director
Meet the Penn State sports medicine staff
Penn State has six people in this department, according to its media guide. It is unchanged from a year ago.
Andy Mutnan – Head athletic trainer
Raymond Champagne – Football athletic trainer
Tesa Johns-Bostick – Football athletic trainer
Matt Peragine – Football athletic trainer
Dr. Wayne Sebastianelli – Director of Athletic Medicine
Dr. Gregory Billy – Team physician
Academics staff
This is another department whose name says it all. Penn State football has eight staff members in this area, led by Director of Football Academic Services Todd Kulka . He returns with some new faces. Here’s the list:
Christa Sist-Morris – Assistant director of Football Learning Services
Todd Kulka – Associate Director of Football Academic Services
Martin Solomon – Associate Director of Football Academic Services
Jovahn Fair – Assistant Director of Football Academic Services
Nicole Rao – Assistant Director of Learning Services
Jessica Martin – Learning Specialist
Jacob Reeder – Learning specialist
Bridget Kisslak – Administrative support assistant
Penn State staff for support, equipment, communication, and content
This is the final group listed, but it’s also an extremely important one. This group handles everything from all of the logistics surrounding James Franklin to uniforms and helmets and everything in between, lettermen, and more.
Heidi Erb – Executive assistant to the head football coach
Angie Hummel – Administrative support assistant, business and finance
Wally Richardson – Director of the Football Letterman’s Club
Ben Herman – Senior director of football equipment
Austin Cruz – Director of football equipment
Juan Perez – Assistant Director of Football Equipment
Greg Kincaid – Assistant athletic director, football communications and content
Kristina Petersen – Senior associate athletic director, strategic communications
Paul Marboe – Assistant director, strategic communication
Matt Rudisill – Assistant director, strategic communication
Riley Joslin – Director of football social media
Zhanee Anderson – Football graphic designer
Hunter Neel — Football graphic designer
The post Meet Penn State football’s entire 2024 staff: On-field coaches, analysts, recruiting coordinators, newcomers, and more appeared first on On3 .
Local State College, PA
Most Popular
Comments / 0