On the day Saquon Barkley was set to make his Super Bowl debut, Penn State was hit by some other significant news regarding its running back position. Ja’Juan Seider, the program’s running backs coach since 2018, is expected to leave for the same role at Notre Dame, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported on Sunday morning.
Seider has also served as James Franklin’s co-offensive coordinator and assistant head coach over the past few seasons. He’s set to leave behind a room returning two starters in Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen and join a program fresh off a national championship appearance.
Seider is one of the most valuable position coaches in the country. He previously stated that he’s “turned down” other opportunities to stay with the Nittany Lions, with whom he’s consistently maintained one of the top running back corps in the country after the departure of predecessor Charles Huff, now Southern Mississppi’s head coach, in 2017.
It’s not only Seider’s impact on the field that would make him such a devastating loss for Penn State, which just recently completed its search for a new defensive coordinator. Seider is also one of the nation’s top recruiters, especially in his home state of Florida, where he’s helped sign 10 prospects over the past four cycles.
The Nittany Lions will soon start a new coaching search with winter workouts soon beginning. It’s a job that should garner some significant interest, considering the returns of NFL Draft prospects Singleton and Allen, who each surpassed 1,000 yards rushing this past season.
