While CFB Saturdays remain vacant, a couple of ancillary offshoots help fill the air. Whatever your opinions on it, the transfer portal at least provides some zest between January and Spring Football. But most schools have concluded their business, and National Signing Day is also past us. The drama in this sport doesn’t cease, though. The coaching carousel is perpetually rotating, and picks up speed this time of year. James Franklin and Penn State have been riding on this proverbial carousel the longest and are yet to come off.
The most noteworthy revelation from James Franklin’s camp this offseason has been uprooting defensive coordinator Jim Knowles from B1G contemporaries at Ohio State. Even a Natty-winning blueblood couldn’t fight echoes of yearning from Happy Valley. Now, Franklin identified another blueblood program to uproot a member of staff from. To fill a void created by Marcus Freeman, who beat him in the Orange Bowl, snatching away one from his own. Easy to see why it’s called a coaching carousel! Notre Dame has lured Penn State running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider to South Bend. Interestingly, this all happened under wraps without much reporting in the media. The Irish haven’t even announced it officially, and James Franklin has already addressed it.
“Ja’Juan Seider, after being with us for seven years, did a great job for us, has moved on,” Franklin said during his winter press conference. “We wish him nothing but the best.” He replaces Deland McCullough at ND, who left for the Raiders in the NFL. Momentarily after James Franklin’s comments, discourse around State College shifted to the successor. Their running backs are the crown jewel for the Nittany Lions. The 2-headed monster of Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton in the backfield is returning next season. Naturally, a top-end RB coach is requisite. That said, James Franklin found somebody who fits the bill. Following on from Knowles, his next heist took him down to the southeast. Newman, in particular. However, he’s been stopped in his tracks.
The Oklahoma Sooners’ first year in the SEC didn’t go to plan. A below .500 year isn’t what Brent Venables had in mind. To add to his misery, Penn State tried to take his RB coach, DeMarco Murray. This was reported by On3’s Pete Nakos. 3x Pro Bowler Murray is an OU alum and one of the hottest commodities around. Ohio State even tried to land him a year or so ago but failed. Well, lightning has struck twice. DeMarco Murray has turned down Penn State’s approaches, as per Rivals. He did hold discussions with the suitors but is staying put with the Sooners. A huge shot in the arm for Venables and one in the foot for Franklin. This bad news follows on from another worry regarding the coaching staff.
Despite engaging in conversations with Penn State about their vacant running backs job, DeMarco Murray is staying on staff with the #Sooners, sources tell https://t.co/QPZYipVqGd.
Details from @Bdrumm_Rivals…
https://t.co/PFwRt1xf7N pic.twitter.com/OQuV04DVD1
— OUInsider (@OUInsider) February 12, 2025
Jim Knowles’ exit from Ohio State came with no glaring reasoning why. Going to Penn State is a strictly horizontal move at best, and some may even rationally suggest it’s a step down. Some people have alluded to the reason being unrest and friction within the camp. Yes, they won the Natty. But Jim Knowles was allegedly at odds with associate HC and D-line coach Larry Johnson throughout. Without delving into the intricacies, the issues between the two essentially stemmed from wanting different strategies and schemes for the defense. Well, if Knowles didn’t like compromises within his scheming and play-calling then, he may have even bigger issues now. An ex Nittany Lions’ player has raised concern.
James Franklin may need to adapt certain ideologies of his for the incoming Jim Knowles
Over the “Behind The Wall with Landon Tengwall” YouTube channel, its namesake discussed Jim Knowles to PSU. Amidst general positivity, he pointed to a wrinkle in how James Franklin works with new members of staff. “I will tell you, as a former player that was in this program, when coordinators come in…Franklin has asked them to switch their lingo around. Meaning that the idea is to let one person assimilate to new things and have to learn new things. Instead of, like, 65 to 70 people having to learn all this new lingo that this coach wants to bring in” said Landon Tengwall. Now this caveat doesn’t have enough legs to cause any sort of friction. It’s rather common as well. However, Tengwall said something a little more worrisome.
“Number 1 thing that I’m most kind of curious to see is how much free rein Knowles is going to get implementing this defense,” remarked Tengwall. “Is this going to be more of a Tom Allen thing? Where it felt like it wasn’t his defense?” Tengwall suggested that while Knowles’ predecessor Allen ran the plays, he didn’t quite have his own vision on defense. Unlike a different coordinator. “When Manny Diaz was here, it was Manny Diaz’s defense. There was no question about that.” he said. This is definitely something to look forward to. Jim Knowles, being the veteran that he is, will not want interference to a process he perfected last season.
Penn State are currently considered the pre-season favorites for the National title by many. For good reason too. They’ve managed to have continuity with the roster, and have added around the edges. Plus, Jim Knowles should be a great boost in theory. James Franklin will hope he can find a suitable running back coach. To continue their modus operandi of running the football. It may not seem like a big deal, but this particular hire holds a lot of weight in the upcoming season. Whether it’s DeMarco Murray or someone else, PSU remain on the lookout.
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