James Franklin’s Pool of Penn State Coaches Just Got Bigger; Why Dan Connor Can Be an LBU Tutor

James Franklin’s pool of coaches for practice and game day just got bigger, thanks to new rules established by the NCAA.

As a result, Penn State staff analysts like former two-time All-American and ex-NFL linebacker Dan Connor — Penn State’s all-time leading tackler — is now eligible to help coach players like Tony Rojas and Kobe King, who are looking to follow in Connor’s considerably large footsteps at LBU.

Is that part of James Franklin’s thinking, as the Nittany Lions count down to summer practice?

“How Penn State plans to deploy this is still yet to be determined,” Greg Kincaid, assistant athletic director for football communications and content, told StateCollege.com. “The legislation includes [that] an ‘institutional staff member’ may provide technical or tactical instruction to a football student-athlete, which includes any athletics department staff member.”

The NCAA’s Division I Council two weeks ago approved a rule change adopted by the Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Subdivision Oversight Committees to permit any staff member to provide technical and tactical instruction to student-athletes. The change was effective immediately.

The new rule is not just limited to analysts, of which Franklin has 13 on staff, headed by Will Reimann, himself a former linebackers coach at Fordham. Technically, on-the-field coaching can now be done by such former Nittany Lions stars as Jordan Hill, a Super Bowl champ, the former head coach at Trinity High School and the new director of life skills for Penn State football, and recruiting coordinator Alan Zemaitis, a former All-Big Ten cornerback and assistant coach at Susquehanna University — though it may be a stretch to see either actually coaching on the Penn State practice field with any regularity, given their other responsibilities.

Previously, only the head coach, 10 full-time assistants and four full-time graduate assistants were permitted to work directly with players during practice and games — though most teams skirted this rule when it came to some analysts.

We will find out the practical application soon enough: Although no official start has been released, Penn State typically begins official summer drills in very early August. In 2023, the Nittany Lions’ first day of practice was Aug. 2, with the opener on Sept. 2 against West Virginia. Penn State kicks off the 2024 season on Aug. 31 in Morgantown at West Virginia.

MORE FROM THE NCAA

Here is a deeper dive from the NCAA: “The proposal does not change the number of off-campus recruiters. FBS teams remain limited to up to 11 staff members and FCS teams remain limited to 13 staff members who may participate in off-campus recruiting activities. National service academies are permitted an additional four off-campus recruiters. Both subdivisions must include the head coach as an off-campus recruiter, and only staff members who regularly engage in on-campus coaching activities with student-athletes can be counted as off-campus recruiters.

“FBS programs also remain able to have up to four graduate student coaches and no more than five strength and conditioning coaches. Limits for student assistant coaches will be the same as the number of permissible off-campus recruiters for a football program.”

Josh Whitman, the athletics director at Illinois and chair of the NCAA council, sees the move as a good thing.

“NCAA members continue efforts to modernize support for student-athletes, and removing restrictions on skill instruction in football will provide those student-athletes with increased resources to achieve their greatest on-field potential,” Whitman said. “At the same time, the council determined that maintaining limits on recruiting personnel will preserve competitive balance in recruiting while also localizing decision-making around how best to maximize support for student-athletes.”

The move comes at a time when Power 4 college football staffs have exploded in size, while at the same time expenses have sky-rocketed — i.e., the proposed $22 million annual compensation package for college athletes thanks to the House v. NCAA court ruling. A bit incongruent.

Jeff Lebby, head coach at Mississippi State, also lauded the rule change in an interview with CBS Sports.

"Giving these guys the ability to have more of a voice than they've had — guys that were definitely capable and ready to do that — now we get to go do it," said Lebby, who is entering his first season at head coach at Mississippi State after stints as an OC at Oklahoma, Ole Miss and Central Florida. “I think it’s great. I think it’s great for young coaches in the profession to be able to develop in a little faster way, create a voice, and get going. That’s how we’ll do it.”

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