Penn State set to hire Stan Drayton as next running backs coach

Penn State is set to hire former Temple head coach Stan Drayton as its next running backs coach, multiple sources tell On3. Before landing with the Owls, Drayton was regarded as one of the top running back coaches in college football.

Drayton was fired by Temple in November during his third season with the Owls. Penn State running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider accepted the Notre Dame running backs job last weekend, opening up the job in State College.

Oklahoma running backs coach DeMarco Murray was also a candidate for the Penn State running backs job, but ultimately decided to stay at his alma mater. Drayton will take over a room that features Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen. The duo combined for 2,207 rushing yards in 2024 and are both set to return in 2025.

On top of retaining Singleton and Allen, Penn State went out and landed Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles. The Nittany Lions are viewed as a preseason top-10 team entering 2025.

Drayton arrived at Temple after working as associate head coach and run game coordinator for Tom Herman and Steve Sarkisian from 2017 to 2021. He helped develop Bijan Robinson, Roschon Johnson and Keaontay Ingram over his time with the Longhorns.

Before his stint with Texas, Stan Drayton coached at Ohio State and helped win the inaugural College Football Playoff in 2014. He also won a national championship as a coach at Florida from 2005 to 2007. A proven recruiter, he brought Robinson to Texas and Cam Newton to the Gators.

“We got to go out and get the very best candidate we can,” Penn State head coach James Franklin said at a press conference about finding his next running backs coach. “And again, there’s a list that’s probably not as deep as people think of candidates that can come to Penn State. In hiring, in my mind, it’s about, how are you going to get a return on your investment. And what I mean by that is, there are some young guys that you can hire that are on an upward trajectory and are going to have really good careers, but you may not get the return on your investment until Year Two.

“… So you’ve got to find that sweet spot of a guy that’s got enough experience, both in coaching and in recruiting at this level, and that we’re going to get the return on our investment quickly. We’re just not at a point as a program to come in and have to wait a year or two while we’re still developing somebody.”