Penn State working to flip Ohio State edge rusher commit

It’s been a great couple weeks for the Penn State Nittany Lions on the recruiting trail.

After getting some tough news regarding some of their top targets, they were able to land many talented recruits they were pursuing and even won some hotly-contested battles.

With James Franklin and his staff continuing to pursue top uncommitted players in the 2025 cycle so they can secure a top ranked class, there are still some recruits committed elsewhere who they will try to flip.

One is Zahir Mathis , a four-star edge rusher from Philadelphia who was once rated as the top player in the state before getting overtaken by Matt Zollers.

With Franklin’s emphasis on keeping the top in-state recruits in Pennsylvania to play for Penn State, it was tough when Mathis announced he had committed to Ohio State .

Rated as the 60th-best player in the country and No. 5 at his position by 247Sports’ Composite Rankings, the 6-foot-6, 225-pounder would be a huge boost for the Nittany Lions as Deion Barnes continues to put together his edge rushing group.

Until a player officially signs his letter of intent, they can decommit and decide to play football elsewhere.

According to Tyler Calvaruso of 247Sports, he thinks Penn State will continue to pursue Mathis, especially after he took an official visit to Happy Valley on June 21 with his high school teammate and Nittany Lions commit Jabree Wallace-Coleman ( subscription required ).

What comes out of it will be seen, but it never hurts for Franklin and his staff to continue working on the talented edge rusher to see if he might be interested in joining this program when it’s time to make things official.

The prospect of staying home and having his teammate with him might be alluring.

Wallace-Coleman and Penn State weren’t highly involved back in January when Mathis made his first decision to join the Buckeyes.

Maybe things have changed now and he might be considering decommitting and signing with the Nittany Lions.

It’s worth it to keep trying until he officially signs on with another program.

Follow Nittany Lions Wire on X , Facebook , and Threads .