Penn State’s football program will have another voice in coaching meetings with the hiring of veteran NFL coach Jim Haslett on Wednesday.
Hassett will serve as a consultant working with the Penn State football coaches and staff.
“We are very excited to have Jim with our program,” head coach James Franklin said on Wednesday. “Jim has an outstanding football mind and invaluable experience that will be a tremendous resource. He has great knowledge of the game at the next level and we plan to put that to good use. He will work with our offensive, special teams and defensive coaches and will be a fantastic sounding board for our staff.”
A native of Pittsburgh, Haslett was the head coach of the New Orleans Saints from 2000-05 and was also the interim head coach for the St. Louis Rams for part of the 2008 season. He led the Saints to the 2000 NFC West Championship en route to being a unanimous choice for AP Coach of the Year.
“I am thrilled to join the Penn State football family,” Haslett said in a news release. “James is one of the great, young head coaches in the collegiate game today and he is leading this Penn State program in the right direction. The future is very bright for Penn State football and I am excited to be a part of it.”
Haslett was most recently the Washington Redskins defensive coordinator from 2010-14.
How Haslett impacts the program in the upcoming season is perhaps the biggest question of all. While his role is specific it is also extremely broad, which makes it difficult to gauge how he will be used and where he will sit on the totem pole. Haslett has been watching Penn State for several months now, coming to spring practices on a few occasions prior to the Blue White game.
Ultimately, as long as he fits in with the coaching staff and players, he brings plenty of football knowledge and an outside perspective to Penn State.
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