Late Saturday night, Penn State defensive coordinator Bob Shoop departed to take the coordinator job at Tennessee. This move caused a great uproar within the Nittany Lion fan base.
The next morning, linebackers coach Brent Pry was promoted to defensive coordinator, a deserving promotion in my opinion. Terry Smith was promoted to associate head coach and Sean Spencer is now in charge of run game defense.
At this hour, multiple sources are confirming that Penn State’s offensive line coach Herb Hand is headed to Auburn to assume the same position.
This now leaves James Franklin and Penn State with two coaching vacancies to fill. Along with being the coordinator, Shoop was also the safeties coach. Possible candidates include former Nittany Lion great LaVar Arrington, who would most likely be the linebackers coach, so Pry would have to move to safeties. Another name is Mike Zordich, another former player. Zordich is currently the safeties coach at Michigan.
As for Hand, his offensive line let former quarterback Christian Hackenberg get sacked 86 times the past two seasons. The biggest issue with his departure may be that he was Penn State’s top recruiter. Offensive linemen Alex Gellerstedt and Connor McGovern have already enrolled so there’s no going back for them. Mike Menet, Penn State’s top commit shows no signs of wavering his commitment. The only concern would be the last lineman, Will Fries, who has been feeling the pressure from Rutgers as of late. At this time I cannot confirm any names rumored to Hand’s replacement.
Stay tune as we continue to track these developments.
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