Report: Penn State Football to Hire Purdue Assistant Anthony Poindexter

Penn State football is reportedly adding another coach to its staff this week. 

The Nittany Lions are expected to hire Purdue co-defensive coordinator Anthony Poindexter for the “open defensive assistant position,” according to a report Sunday night by Yahoo Sports’ Pete Thamel.

The “open position” Thamel was referring to is assumed to be safeties coach. The Nittany Lions recently lost co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach Tim Banks to Tennessee. Banks spent five seasons at Penn State and helped develop secondary stars such as Marcus Allen and Troy Apke. 

Poindexter just wrapped up his fourth season with the Boilermakers. Purdue’s secondary allowed a less-than-stellar 254.2 passing yards per game in 2020, but overall the group gave up 29.8 points per game. As co-defensive coordinator, Poindexter helped coach standouts such as linebacker Derrick Barnes and safety Navon Mosley 

Before arriving in West Lafayette, Poindexter spent three seasons manning the same position at UConn and spent 11 seasons coaching several different spots at UVA. The Virginia native started with the Cavaliers as a graduate assistant in 2003, and was a standout safety for them before that. 

Poindexter was selected in seventh round of the NFL Draft by the Baltimore Ravens after a productive playing career at UVA. He’s the third new assistant coach hired by the Nittany Lions this offseason, following offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich and tight ends coach Ty Howle.