The two Penn State assistants who left the program over the offseason had a bad weekend.
It started Saturday night, when No. 4 Clemson and new defensive coordinator Tom Allen fell at home to No. 9 LSU.
The next night, No. 6 Notre Dame and new RB coach Ja’Juan Seider lost at No. 10 Miami.
Allen’s defense played well overall, giving up just 17 points. But the offense could only manage 10, and as a result, Clemson is 0-1.
Notre Dame’s running game didn’t get much done in Seider’s debut. Star back Jeremiyah Love only gained 33 yards on 10 carries, and the ESPN broadcast wondered why he wasn’t being used more. Jadarian Price led Notre Dame with 45 yards on six carries.
Allen’s run with Penn State lasted only one season.
In that lone season, his defense was seventh in the country in yards allowed and eighth in points allowed.
Seider was at Penn State from 2018 through last year, coaching backs such as Miles Sanders, Journey Brown and, most notably, Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen (no relation to Tom).
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.“Ja’Juan Seider, after being with us for seven years, did a great job for us, has moved on,” Franklin said. “We wish him nothing but the best. Seven years. In some way, it’s a shame that seven years is a long time (in college football). But (Seider) gave our program and our community seven years, and did a really good job for us. So we’re appreciative of that.”
Penn State ended up hiring a big fish in Jim Knowles from Ohio State to succeed Allen.
Penn State also hired a big fish to succeed Seider, reeling in Stan Drayton, who won national titles as the RB coach at Florida (2006) and Ohio State (2014).
Coach James Franklin isn’t big on lateral moves, and since both Allen and Seider have the same title, that is technically what they made.
“I think what we talked about in the past is what can we do and what do we need to do here at Penn State to make sure that guys don’t leave for lateral moves,” Franklin said. “To me, that’s really the main focus. We’ve got to make sure that assistants don’t leave for assistant positions and coordinators don’t leave to be coordinators. If guys have a chance for a clear, obvious promotion, we want that for him.”
No. 2 Penn State takes on FIU Saturday, Sept. 6 at Beaver Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for noon on the Big Ten Network.
