Here it is two weeks into January and James Franklin is looking for a new assistant coach. Again. And, a coordinator at that. Again. This time, it’s a special teams coordinator now that Stacy Collins is headed back west, to Boise State, from whence he came in 2021.
It’s been that kind of offseason for Franklin, who hired Andy Kotelnicki to lead the offense and Tom Allen to head the defense after Manny Diaz left for Duke in what seems like eons ago.
In college football these days, turnover is the coin of the realm, whether it’s the portal or on the coaching carousel. Staff and roster stability seem to be a thing of the past, as salaries skyrocket and NIL sometimes means loyalty is nil.
Not so at Penn State, at least at the top. With the retirement of Nick Saban, James Franklin now ranks No. 9 among major college football coaches who have been at their current school the longest, according to ESPN. Kirk Ferentz, who has been at Iowa since December 1998, is No. 1 overall and tops in the Big Ten. Franklin is No. 2 in the Big Ten and national champ Jim Harbaugh is No. 3 — for now…
Franklin hit his 10-year milestone at Penn State on Thursday (he was hired Jan. 11, 2014) with a coaching search on his to-do list. Franklin had years when his coaching staff has remained intact (after the 2014 and ’16 seasons) and stretches when he’s had to replace eight coaches in three seasons (2017-19). Five offseasons, Franklin has had to replace three assistants.
This has been a particularly challenging stretch for the Nittany Lions’ coach, who is 88-39 at Penn State, with all three coordinator positions open at one point or another. One of the vacancies, of course, was of Franklin’s own doing — he fired OC Mike Yurcich on Nov. 12, 2023, the second consecutive offensive coordinator he fired over a 33-month period. (Yurcich lasted 1,049 days; his predecessor, Kirk Ciarrocca, all of 379 days.)
Lucky for him, Terry Smith isn’t going anywhere. As is always the case.
Smith is the only assistant football coach who has been on the staff with Franklin since CJF was hired. A former wide receiver and co-captain for the Nittany Lions three decades ago, Smith has coached the Penn State cornerbacks from Day One of the Franklin regime, and also serves as associate head coach and defensive recruiting coordinator. He has developed quite the CB-to-the NFL pipeline these days.
Running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider, who Franklin hired from the University of Florida prior to the 2018 season, ranks No. 2 on Franklin’s coaching staff in longevity, as he begins his seventh season. Offensive line coach Phil Trautwein has moved, somewhat under the radar, to the No. 3 spot as the longest-tenured assistant under Franklin. He begins Year 5 in 2024.
As the Penn State staff transition continues, and becomes even more of the norm, we are using this (short) break in the hiring action to do an All-22 on all the assistant coaches who have worked for Franklin over the past decade. How many, exactly? See No. 3:
1. Here is Franklin’s current staff, filled with a number of short-timers:
Terry Smith (11th season) — hired January 2014
Ja’Juan Seider (7) — hired Jan. 25, 2018
Phil Trautwein (5) — hired Jan. 3, 2020
Ty Howle (4) — promoted from analyst Feb. 5, 2021
Anthony Poindexter (4) — hired Feb. 21, 2021
Deion Barnes (2) — promoted from analyst March 13, 2023
Marques Hagans (2) — hired Jan. 23, 2023
Andy Kotelnicki (1) — hired Dec. 1, 2023
Tom Allen (1) — hired Dec. 19, 2023
TBA — hired 2024
2. One to go. While it may seem to be a fait accompli that Collins’ spot will be taken up with a special teams coordinator hire, it is possible that Franklin could assign those duties to someone already on staff (hello, Howle?), and opt to hire a full-time quarterbacks coach. All four teams in the recent CFP — Michigan, Alabama, Texas and Washington — had a position coach also handle special teams coaching duties.
2a. As it is now: Penn State grad assistant Danny O’Brien, not one of the NCAA-permitted 10 full-time assistant coaches, is Franklin’s de facto QB coach (while O’Brien is also taking graduate classes).
3. Number of full-time assistant coaches since 2014: In all, not counting interim assistants, Franklin has had 31 full-time assistant coaches. The new hire will be No. 32. By group: offense (18), defense (10) and special teams (3). For a complete year-by-year list, see No. 22.
4. Average stay at Penn State, not counting new hires Kotelnicki and Allen: Offense (3.3 years), defense (4.8 years) and special teams (2 years).
5. Shortest stay at Penn State: WR coach David Corley, 355 days. Second shortest stint: WR coach Gerad Parker, 363 days.
6. Churn by the numbers, on offense:
Offensive coordinator (6): John Donovan, Joe Moorhead, Ricky Rahne, Ciarrocca, Yurcich, Kotelnicki.
QB (6): Rahne, Moorhead, Rahne, Ciarrocca, Yurcich, O’Brien (GA).
TE (4): Donovan, Rahne, Tyler Bowen, Howle.
WR (5): Josh Gattis, Corley, Parker, Taylor Stubblefield, Hagans.
OL (3): Herb Hand, Matt Limegrover, Trautwein.
RB (2): Charles Huff, Seider.
7. Churn by the numbers, on defense:
Defensive coordinator (4): Bob Shoop, Brent Pry, Diaz, Allen.
SAF (3): Shoop, Tim Banks, Poindexter.
LB (3): Pry, Diaz, Allen.
CB (1): Smith.
8. Churn by the numbers, on special teams:
ST coordinator (5): Huff (PT), Galiano, Joe Lorig, Collins, tba.
9. Churn by year (assistants who left after season denoted): 0 in 2014, 2016; 1 in 2021, 2022; 2 in 2018; 3 in 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2023.
10. Franklin has fired five assistants in his decade at Penn State: OC Donovan (after the 2015 season); WR coach Corley, who was originally hired as running backs coach (2018); O-line coach Limegrover (2019); and offensive coordinators Ciarrocca (2020) and Yurcich (2023). The Yurcich move was the only CJF made during the season.
11. The CJF Tree: Franklin has had six assistants become head coaches elsewhere after they left Penn State: Moorhead, Mississippi State (14-12) and Akron (4-20); Huff, Marshall (22-17); Rahne, Old Dominion (15-22); and Pry, Virginia Tech (10-14) all coached on the 2016-17 Penn State teams that went a stellar 22-5 and were ranked as high as No. 2 in 2017. As head coaches, they are a combined 65-85. In addition, former Franklin assistants Diaz (Duke) and Parker (Troy) earned head coaching gigs this offseason.
12. Allen is the fifth former college football head coach Franklin has had on his staff at Penn State — and three of the five he hired at PSU were as DC’s:
• Shoop, head coach at Columbia (2003-05, 7-23); DC at Penn State (2014-15).
• Moorhead, head coach at Fordham (2012-15, 38-13); OC at Penn State (2016-17).
• Diaz, head coach at Miami (Fla.) (2019-21, 21-15); DC at Penn State (2022-23).
• Stacy Collins, head coach at South Dakota School of Mines (2012-15, 16-27); special teams coordinator, Penn State (2022-23).
• Allen, head coach at Indiana (2017-23, 33-49); DC at Penn State (2024).
13. In addition to Smith, a handful of other PSU football staffers have been with Franklin since he was hired as Penn State’s 16th head football coach 10 years ago; they are not counted among the 31 football assistants Franklin has had at PSU. They are:
14. Associate athletic director and Franklin’s chief of staff, Kevin Threlkel, was with Franklin at stops at Kansas State, Maryland and Vanderbilt before coming to Penn State in 2014 as director of football administration.
15. Andy Frank was at Vanderbilt with Franklin for three seasons before coming to Penn State in 2014 as director of player personnel. Now, Frank — educated as an engineer at Princeton, where he played defensive back and special teams — heads an ever-increasing staff in this portal/NIL era and holds the title of general manager of personnel and recruitment.
16. Chuck Losey is assistant athletic director for football performance enhancement under Franklin. Losey succeeded Dwight Galt in 2022, after coming to Penn State in 2014 as assistant director.
16a. Alvin Futrell is Penn State football’s associate director of performance enhancement, and arrived at Penn State in April 2014 from Tennessee State, where he worked with Losey for a number of years.
17. There is an integral quartet of football staffers who were working for Penn State football when Franklin arrived, and they are still a key part of the program: Jevin Stone, director of coaching technology (his high school football coach was Tom Allen); Todd Kulka, former PSU linebacker and director of football academic services; former standout Penn State quarterback Wally Richardson, director of the Penn State Football Letterman’s Club; and administrative assistant Angie Hummel.
18. Franklin frequently talks of “alignment” of those Penn State administrators who are, ostensibly, above him on the org chart. Here is a look at that leadership since Franklin was hired:
19. Presidents Rodney Erickson (2011-14); Eric Barron (May 2014-April 2022); and Neeli Bendapudi (since May 9, 2022). Bendapudi, who oversees an annual Penn State system-wide budget of about $8 billion, made $1.3 million in 2023; Franklin, whose football program generates a bit over $100 million annually in revenue, made $9.085 million.
20. Athletic directors Dave Joyner (2011-2014); Sandy Barbour (August 2014-June 2022); and Patrick Kraft (since July 1, 2022).
21. Penn State Board of Trustees chairs Keith Masser, Ira Lubert, Mark Dambly and Matthew Schuyler (current).
22. Franklin’s Penn State coaching staff, year by year:
2014 (7-6) — DEFENSE: Bob Shoop (DC/S), Brent Pry (co-DC, LB), Sean Spencer (DL), Terry Smith (CB). OFFENSE: John Donovan (OC/TE), Herb Hand (OL), Charles Huff (RB/ST), Ricky Rahne (QB), Josh Gattis (WR). After 2014 — no changes.
2015 (7-6) — Staff same as 2014. After 2015 — Fired: Donovan. Departed: Shoop to Tennessee (OC), Hand to Auburn (OL). Hired: Joe Moorhead (OC/QB), Tim Banks (S), Matt Limegover (OL).
2016 (11-3) — DEFENSE: Pry (DC/LB), Spencer (DL), Smith (CB), Banks (S). OFFENSE: Moorhead (OC/QB), Limegrover (OL), Huff (RB/ST), Rahne (TE), Gattis (WR). After 2016 — no changes.
2017 (11-2) — Staff same as 2016. After 2017 — Departed: Moorhead to Mississippi State (HC), Huff to Mississippi State (AHC/RB), Gattis to Alabama (co-OC/WR). Hired: Ja’Juan Seider (RB), Tyler Bowen (TE), David Corley (WR), Phil Galiano (ST).
2018 (9-4) — DEFENSE: Pry (DC/LB), Spencer (DL), Smith (CB), Banks (S). OFFENSE: Rahne (OC/QB), Limegrover (OL), Seider (RB), Bowen (TE), Corley (WR). SPECIAL TEAMS: Galiano. After 2018 — Fired: Corley. Departed: Galiano, New Orleans Saints, NFL (ST). Hired: Gerad Parker (WR), Joe Lorig (ST).
2019 (11-2) — DEFENSE: Pry (DC/LB), Spencer (DL), Smith (CB), Banks (S). OFFENSE: Rahne (OC/QB), Limegrover (OL), Seider (RB), Bowen (TE), Parker (WR). SPECIAL TEAMS: Lorig. After 2019 — Fired: Limegrover. Departed: Spencer to N.Y. Giants, NFL (DL), Parker to West Virginia (OC/WR), Rahne to Old Dominion (HC). Hired: Phil Trautwein (OL), John Scott (DL), Kirk Ciarrocca (OC/QB), Taylor Stubblefield (WR).
2020 (4-5) — DEFENSE: Pry (DC/LB), Scott (DL), Smith (CB), Banks (S). OFFENSE: Ciarrocca (OC/QB), Trautwein (OL), Seider (RB), Bowen (TE), Stubblefield (WR). SPECIAL TEAMS: Lorig. After 2020 — Fired: Ciarrocca. Departed: Banks to Tennessee (DC), Bowen to Jacksonville Jaguars, NFL (TE). Hired: Mike Yurcich (OC/QB), Anthony Poindexter (co-DC/S), Ty Howle (TE).
2021 (7-5) — DEFENSE: Pry (DC/LB), Scott (DL), Smith (CB), Poindexter (co-DC/S). OFFENSE: Yurcich (OC/QB), Trautwein (OL), Seider (RB), Howle (TE), Stubblefield (WR). SPECIAL TEAMS: Lorig. After 2021 — Departed: Pry to Virginia Tech (HC). Hired: Manny Diaz (DC/LB).
2022 (11-2) — DEFENSE: Diaz (DC/LB), Scott (DL), Smith (CB), Poindexter (c-DC/S). OFFENSE: Yurcich (OC/QB), Trautwein (OL), Seider (RB), Howle (TE), Stubblefield (WR). SPECIAL TEAMS: Collins. After 2022:— Fired: Stubblefield (WR). Departed: Scott to Detroit Lions, NFL (DL). Hired: Marques Hagans (WR), Deion Barnes (DL)
2023 (11-3) — DEFENSE: Diaz (DC/LB), Barnes (DL), Smith (CB), Poindexter (co-DC/S). OFFENSE: Yurcich (OC/QB), Trautwein (OL), Seider (co-OC, RB), Howle (co-OC), Hagans (WR). SPECIAL TEAMS: Collins. After 2023 —Fired after 10 games: Yurcich (OC/QB). Departed: Diaz to Duke (HC); Collins to Boise State (AC/ST). Hired: Andy Kotelnicki (OC), Tom Allen (LB/DC), tba.
