It looks like Penn State football is losing defensive line coach Deion Barnes to an SEC program.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported late Tuesday afternoon that Barnes is expected to become the DE/OLB coach at South Carolina.
Barnes is a guy Penn State would have liked to keep.
At 32, Barnes has already made a name for himself in the profession, having been Penn State’s full-time defensive line coach for three seasons and in that short time, having helped develop some of Penn State’s best players. In 2023, Chop Robinson, Adisa Isaac and Dani Dennis-Sutton made up one of, if not America’s best defensive end room.
The next season, Barnes oversaw Abdul Carter’s switch from linebacker to DE, and the next spring, Carter went No. 3 overall in the NFL Draft to the New York Giants.
This season, true freshmen Chaz Coleman and Yvan Kemajou each showed promise under Barnes’ watch.
In Barnes’ time at Penn State, he also coached Zane Durant, who became a mainstay at defensive tackle.
Barnes is the second Penn State assistant to leave for South Carolina and the third to leave for an SEC school. Former PSU running backs coach Stan Drayton is also going to Columbia, and former PSU OL coach Phil Trautwein is returning to his alma mater Florida.
Drayton and Trautwein will each be coaching Penn State in the Pinstripe Bowl against Clemson, scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 27 at noon on ABC in Yankee Stadium.
It’s not clear yet what Barnes status for that game will be.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Here are a list of Penn State coordinators/position coaches that will not be on staff in 2026, and what their next stop will be.
Offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki (Next stop: TBD)
Defensive coordinator Jim Knowles (Next stop: Tennessee DC
Offensive line coach Phil Trautwein (Next stop: Florida OL coach)
Defensive line coach Deion Barnes (Next stop: South Carolina OLB/DE coach)
QB coach Danny O’Brien (Next stop: Virginia Tech QB coach
WR coach Marques Hagans (Next stop: TBD)
TE coach Ty Howle (Next stop: Virginia Tech OC)
RB coach Stan Drayton (Next stop: South Carolina RB coach)
