Inside Alex McPherson’s ‘Night And Day’ Growth at Penn State

Penn State brought in multiple players through the portal this past offseason, including Colorado defensive end transfer transfer Alex McPherson, whose commitment didn’t garner much attention. The former three-star recruit from Florida tallied 15 tackles last season as a freshman with the Buffaloes, four of which came in a win over Iowa State.

McPherson said that game has come up in conversation with the many former Cyclone coaches and players now at Penn State.

“They definitely said that I had a good game that game, and we kind of joke about it a lot because we beat them and that was our only conference win,” McPherson said Wednesday. “So we joke around about that, but yeah, I feel like I had a good game, and I don’t know honestly if that contributed to me coming here or not.”

Regardless of the role that performance played in his recruitment, the coaches took notice of McPherson when he entered the portal. He said the decision to commit was an easy one.

“Overall, I would say just the coaching staff in general and what they’ve shown in the past,” McPherson said. “And you know, Penn State is a place you can’t really beat. Its tradition, its winning history, that’s all I ever wanted was to play at a place like Penn State.”

Though Iowa State didn’t initially offer McPherson out of high school, the staff saw enough to bring him to State College. In his eight months since arriving on campus, McPherson said head coach Matt Campbell has been “everything you would think.” A former defensive lineman himself, McPherson called Campbell “very involved and knowledgeable.”

While their off-field relationship is strong, what happens on the field will ultimately determine how successful the Nittany Lions are in 2026. McPherson said he’s unsure what his role will be during Saturday’s season-opener against Marshall, but he’s expected to land on the two-deep this year. Regardless of what his playing time looks like, McPherson described success as “making sure that I did my job and did everything I can to help the team win.”

In preparation for his second season of college ball, he’s added 20 pounds of good weight, allowing him to increase strength while maintaining speed for a “night and day difference.” He missed time last summer at Colorado with sickness, but being healthy this year contributed to the improvement.

But McPherson’s biggest offseason improvement has been increasing knowledge of the game and “understanding the full defense.” He cited studying “more than you’re supposed to” as he learns the intricacies of defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn’s scheme.

In addition to the coaches and nutrition staff, McPherson credited the team’s offensive tackles, namely Malachi Goodman, Anthony Donkoh, Owen Aliciene and Garrett Sexton, for giving him competition at practice.

Eager to embark on the season, McPherson is looking forward to seeing the atmosphere in Beaver Stadium on Saturday.

“Just getting in front of the fans and showing what we’ve been doing behind the scenes and putting it all out there on the field,” he said. “Just playing together for the first time as a team.”