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Notre Dame expected to hire Penn State's Ja'Juan Seider as running backs coach

IMG_7504by:Jack Soble•02/09/25•

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Penn State running backs coach Ja'Juan Seider. (Credit: Steve Manuel | Blue White Illustrated)

Notre Dame moved quickly for a new running backs coach after losing Deland McCullough to the Las Vegas Raiders on Wednesday night.

According to On3’s Pete Nakos, Irish head coach Marcus Freeman is targeting Penn State running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider for the same position. With the Nittany Lions, Seider led one of the top running back duos in the country last season in Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen.

Nakos is reporting that the deal is expected to get done and Seider is expected to leave State College, Penn. for South Bend. ESPN’s Pete Thamel was the first to report the news.

If the deal gets done, Notre Dame would hire Seider away from the program he’s coached at since 2018. Seider also holds assistant head coach and co-offensive coordinator titles, the latter of which McCullough held with the Irish as well.

Before Penn State, Seider coached running backs at Florida in 2017, West Virginia from 2013-16 and Marshall from 2010-12. He has 15 years of full-time assistant coach experience in college football, all as a running backs coach.

Under Seider’s leadership, Allen rushed 220 times for 1,108 yards and 8 touchdowns last season while Singleton rushed 172 times for 1,099 yards and 12 scores.

Both backs gashed Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl, which the Irish won 27-24 on a last-second field goal. They combined for 34 carries for 166 yards, while Singleton — whose commitment the Nittany Lions secured after a heated battle with the Irish — found the end zone three times.

Penn State might have one of the two best running back rooms in college football in 2025, but the other could very well be Notre Dame. In South Bend, Seider would have the chance to coach Jeremiyah Love in what is likely his final year of college football, as well as key returners Jadarian Price and Aneyas Williams.

Love emerged as one of the most electric players in college football during his sophomore season, rushing 163 times for 1,125 yards (good for 6.9 yards per carry) and 17 touchdowns. Price, who had hit-or-miss tendencies but was a threat to go the distance at any moment, had 120 carries for 746 yards and 7 scores.

Williams emerged as Notre Dame’s third-down back and saw his touches increase late in the season, ending the year with 34 carries for 219 yards and 2 touchdowns. He came up huge against Seider’s Nittany Lions, with 5 receptions for 66 yards. Love did, too, with a 2-yard touchdown run in which he broke four attempted Penn State tackles.

The deal is not yet done, but according to multiple reports, every expectation is that Seider will be Notre Dame’s next running backs coach.

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