Matt Sieg came to Penn State football’s season opener as a guest of the other team.
Growing up, Matt’s father, Jeff— now an assistant coach for his son’s Fort Cherry team— could see Beaver Stadium from his house. So, yeah, he was a Penn State guy. Matt is as well.
But being the WPIAL’s top-ranked Class of 2026 player means that the local schools will want you. West Virginia falls into that category.
So Sieg came to WVU as a guest of Coach Neal Brown’s program, and by rule, wasn’t allowed to converse with anybody on the Penn State side despite the relationships he’s built with head honcho James Franklin, defensive coordinator Tom Allen and safeties coach Anthony Poindexter.
But he was able to watch the game, and although he didn’t stick around past a 139-minute weather delay, he saw plenty of highlights from Penn State, particularly at the position he could well be playing at the next level.
“From a safety standpoint, they played amazing,” Sieg told Nittany Spots now. No. 1 (Jaylen Reed), he’s their guy. He had an amazinggame,had a lot ofbig plays early on.They play the right way. They’re prepared, and they do a good job coaching.”
This week, Sieg— who major recruiting outlets list as a safety but is best known to local high school sports fans as a quarterback— will be able to converse with the Penn State side because he’ll be a guest of PSU at Beaver Stadium.
Penn State’s safety trio of Reed, KJ Winston and Zakee Wheatley could be the best in the country, and Sieg has developed a bond with their position coach, Poindexter.
“It’s been great,” Sieg said. “He texts me every other day. I FaceTime with him and Coach Tom Allen and Coach Franklin pretty much every week. We have a great relationship. Every time I go up there, it’s always fun to hang out with him and the safeties. Definitely building a good relationship and I can’t wait to see them this weekend.”
Sieg also talks with ” a decent amount of players” on Penn State’s roster, mainly fellow WPIAL prospects such as LB Anthony Speca,who starred at Pittsburgh Central Catholic.
Penn State has WPIAL players committed to its 2025 class and its lone Class of 2027 commit, RB Kemon Spell, stars at McKeesport.
So it’s an area Penn State is quite familiar with.
“The WPIAL is like a big family,” Sieg said. “Everybody knows each other.”
So how does Sieg see himself meshing with Allen’s scheme?
“I think I could fit pretty well in this defense,” he said. “They play a brand of football that definitely suits my game and I could see myself fitting in there for sure.”
But he’d be happy to play offense, too.
“I’ll play anywhere,” he said. “Anywhere the team needs me to play wherever I go. That’s kind ofa nice thing. I feel like being able to play wherever will help me hopefully get some decent amount of playing time where I’m needed early on and just helping me work on my craft.”
Overall, Sieg is psyched to be back in Happy Valley.
“I’m always going to be and always have been high on Penn State,” he said. “I mean it just shows that they’re doing it the right way… their preparation and everything, they’re doing it right, and it definitely showed.”
“I’m just excited to get out there with my family and obviously take in the atmosphere. There’s really nothing like it in college football. Being in Beaver Stadium on a Saturday. Just enjoying the time I get to spend with my family and the coaches and keep making the connections.”
