Penn State has a new job opening, and it’s one that fans didn’t expect to have, so now the question becomes who will succeed Ja’Juan Seider as running backs coach?
Seider, who was a big part of coach James Franklin’s staff for seven seasons, is set to leave for Notre Dame.
James Franklin Confirms, Comments on Ja’Juan Seider’s Departure
Similarly to how Franklin had to move to replace Tom Allen as defensive coordinator, Franklin and company now need a running backs coach. As always, there are plenty of candidates, and with stars Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen set to come back for 2025, the job is plenty desirable.
Here are seven names to look at.
IN HOUSE
Charles Walker, assistant running backs coach, Penn State
If Penn State is to stay in-house— which seems unlikely based on Franklin’s tendency to look for outside hires such as current defensive and offensive coordinators Jim Knowles and Andy Kotelnicki— Walker is probably the guy. He’s become a mainstay on Franklin’s staff. Walker, who’s also listed as Defensive Analyst and Analytics Coordinator on Penn State’s site, started working with Franklin in 2012, when the Penn State boss was still at Vanderbilt. Walker later joined Franklin at Penn State, becoming assistant recruiting coordinator for personnel and recruitment on defense for two years before moving onto the NFL, where he was a football analyst with the Atlanta Falcons.
The odds of Walker getting the job seem unlikely but as we saw with DL coach Deion Barnes two years ago, the unexpected can happen.
An Unplanned Hire: How Deion Barnes ‘Blew Them All Away’ and Became the Penn State DL Coach
Bill Belton, head coach, Winslow Township High School
Although Belton isn’t currently on staff at Penn State, PSU is the first school football fans think about when they think of him. Belton played at Penn State from 2011-14– the last season for Franklin— and was pretty good, rushing for more than 800 yards in 2013.
Now, he’s the head coach at Winslow, where he won a state title this past season.
Belton may indeed he a college position coach someday in the near future but it doesn’t seems like has the polish Franklin wants for this job at this time.
OUTSIDE CANDIDATES
Stan Drayton, Temple head coach
PHILADELPHIA, PA – SEPTEMBER 26: Temple head coach Stan Drayton looks on during the game between the Army Black Knights and the Temple Owls on September 26th, 2024 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA. (Photo by Terence Lewis/Icon Sportswire)
Nittany Sports Now can confirm what Pete Nakos of On3Sports reported, which is that Drayton is a candidate for the job. Drayton was most recently Temple’s head coach, where he was for three seasons before being fired in November with two games still to play. Drayton has 22 seasons coaching running backs, perhaps most notably at Ohio State, where he was the RB coach from 2012-14 under Urban Meyer. There, he helped the team win a national title in 2014, with a running back, Ezekiel Elliot, being the leading man. The next season, Drayton started coaching RBs with the Chicago Bears, then moved onto Texas, where he was for five seasons and was retained by head coach Steve Sarkisian when Tom Herman was fired. At UT, he helped Bijan Robinson develop into a top 10 draft choice, and Drayton’s overall body of work was good enough to land him a head coaching job. Penn State has been a successful “coaching rehab” center for fired head coaches Manny Diaz and Tom Allen on the defensive side. Maybe it will be for Drayton on the offensive side.
Julian Griffin, Cal RB coach
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Nittany Sports Now can confirm that Griffin, who just got the Cal job after five seasons at the University of Texas-San Antonio, is a candidate for the Penn State job. This past season, UTSA was 64th in the country in rushing yards per game, which is pretty good considering the team finished 7-6. When Griffin started at UTSA in 2020, he made an impact right aewy
Per Griffin’s UTSA bio, the team “broke single-season school records for rushing yards (2,585), rushing yards per game (215.4), yards per rush (5.21) and rushing touchdowns (24) behind Sincere McCormick, who shattered UTSA’s single-season marks for yards (1,467), carries (249) and touchdowns (11) while finishing second in the FBS with a program-record 133.4 rushing yards per game. The Roadrunners also smashed single-game standards for total yards (624) and rushing yards (443) in a game in a regular season-finale rout of North Texas.”
Year two was even better.
“In his second season overseeing the running backs,” the bio reads, “Griffin’s stable helped the Roadrunners smash more records, including single-season marks for total points (516), points per game (36.9), first downs (320), total offense (6,146) and yards per game (439.0). The Roadrunners rushed for 2,569 yards — the second-best total in program annals — and a UTSA-record 26 touchdowns.”
In 2022, UTSA went 11-3 and won its second straight conference title. So Griffin has had plenty of success, which has led him to the Cal job, if not something bigger.
Chad Scott, West Virginia RB coach/former OC
Franklin coached against Scott in each of the last two seasons when Scott was WVU’s offensive coordinator under Neal Brown. Scott’s time as OC was up and down, as evidenced by the fact that Brown, himself an offensive mind, was fired this offseason. But when the WVU offensive was working, it was usually because of the running backs and offensive line. Scott’s biggest success story is probably C.J. Donaldson, who rushed for 700+ yards and double-digit touchdowns in each of the past two seasons. Donaldson caught the attention of plenty, including Ohio State, where he transferred over the offseason.
The fact that Rich Rodriguez retained Scott from Brown’s staff also speaks well to his personality.
Jonathan Wallace, Kansas RB coach
The first thing Penn State fans will notice when looking at Wallace’s name is where he coaches. Penn State OC Andy Kotelnicki was at Kansas before taking the Penn State job, and, yes, Wallace worked with him. This could be important considering what Franklin said another Kotelnicki, who runs the offense, and his influence on who will be the next RB coach.
“I think ultimately, the guys will ultimately be tied to me, and it’s ultimately my decision. But obviously, Andy plays a huge role in that, and really the whole staff plays a huge role in that. Again, back to the process,” Franklin said. “We’re fortunate that we’re able to hire, I wouldn’t say pretty much anybody we want to, but we’re able to really get a very strong list together that, I would say, most of the candidates we would be happy with hiring. So it’s now trying to find the best one. I don’t think we’ll ever hire somebody that that Andy’s unhappy with or I’m unhappy with. It’s somebody that we’re both comfortable with and the staff is comfortable with. So in these interviews, I’ll pretty much narrow it down with Andy, but then they’ll interview with the staff, and everybody kind of has a vote. I got my feeling, and he’s got his feeling. And then kind of what the entire staff feels. But you know, it’s just like in recruiting or just like hiring, I want these coaches to come to Penn State and have a great experience and retire at Penn State, but that’s not always the case. So I’m the guy that’s going to be here, and I need to make sure that I’m comfortable with everybody we’re bringing into the building.”
Savon Huggins, Boston College RB coach
Huggins is a guy on the rise. He became BC’s RB coach before his 30th birthday and blossomed in 2023, his second season. That year, BC was second in the ACC in rushing. Like Drayton and Scott, Huggins was retained by a new head coach after the man who hired him left. In Huggins’ case, this coach was former Penn State boss Bill O’Brien. BC ran for more than 2,500 yards collectively this past season.
Huggins is an intriguing name but, like with other potential candidates, it’s fair to wonder if a relative lack of experience will hurt this candidacy.
