Meet the Penn State football coaching, off-field, and support staff ahead of the 2022 season

The 2022 Penn State football coaching staff features plenty of familiar faces. However, it has some new members. So, too, does the Nittany Lions’ off-field and support staff.

It can be hard to keep track of the comings and goings with the on-field assistants on head coach James Franklin’s staff, let alone those in the recruiting and analytic departments. But, with the help of the program’s annual media guide, we’ve rounded up a handy list you can reference all season long below.

A * indicates a new hire in 2022.

Head coach James Franklin

Entering his ninth season at Penn State, Franklin sports a 67-34 record with the Nittany Lions.

Meet the Penn State coordinators

Mike Yurcich, offensive coordinator – Yurcich is back for his second season. It makes him the program’s first repeat play caller on offense since Ricky Rahne in 2018-2019.

Manny Diaz, defensive coordinator* – Diaz joined the Lions’ staff back in December after being fired from his role as the head coach at Miami. He replaces Brent Pry, who left to become the head coach at Virginia Tech.

Stacy Collins, special teams coordinator* – Collins was hired by Franklin this offseason to replace Joe Lorig, who left for the same role at Oregon.

Running down the Lions’ position coaches

Mike Yurcich – Second season as the Penn State quarterbacks coach

Ja’Juan Seider – Fifth season as the Lions’ running backs coach; first season as co-offensive coordinator

Taylor Stubblefield – Third season as the Penn State receivers coach

Ty Howle – Second season as Lions’ tight ends coach

Phil Trautwein – Third season as the Lions’ offensive line coach

John Scott Jr. – Third season as the Penn State defensive line coach

Manny Diaz – First season as the Lions’ linebackers coach

Anthony Poindexter – Second season as Penn State safeties coach and co-defensive coordinator

Terry Smith – Nine season as Lions’ cornerbacks coach

Losey takes over as head strength coach

James Franklin hired Dwight Galt as his head strength and conditioning coach in 2014. The two had worked together for years. Galt has now retired and passed the position onto another man who has been around Franklin and Penn State for years: Chuck Losey. He’s been with the Lions since 2014 and is now the associate athletic director for football improvement enhancement.

The Penn State sport performance staff, which Losey oversees, includes Alvin Futrell, Jeff Earls, Jon Fluery, Tyrone Smith*, Leanne Loudon, Nikki Judge, Josh Nelson, and Adrianna Napoletano.

Here is the Penn State football administration staff

Longtime Frankin confidant Kevin Threlkel leads this group. His title is Chief of Staff. He oversees Penn State director of football administration, Ben Kerr, Will Reimann, who is the director of football research and strategy, plus Destiny Rodriguez, who moved over from the recruiting department this offseason to become the director of external operations.

Meet the graduate assistants

Like every college football program, Penn State can have four graduate assistants. They can only stay for two years. However, like players, GAs received an extra year from the NCAA due to COVID.

This year’s Nittany Lions graduate assistants are David Parker and Dwayne Scott* on offense while Deion Barnes and Bryce Jones* are on defense.

Here is the Penn State quality control and analytics staff

This group is much bigger today than it was at this time a year ago. James Franklin said his new contract helped create some of these positions. Penn State wasted no time filling them.

The 10-member department includes:

Dan Connor* – Defensive analyst

Gabe Infante* – Defensive analyst

Frank Leonard* – Offensive analyst

Rick Lyster* – Defensive analyst

Danny O’Brien* – Offensive analyst

Charlie Frye* – Offensive analyst

Eric Raisbeck – Special teams analyst

David Rocco* – Offensive analyst

Charles Walker* – Offensive analyst

Ken Whisenhunt – Offensive analyst

Here’s a look at the recruiting staff

It’s not just the analytics staff that has grown at Penn State this year. The recruiting department has some new faces, however, as well.

Andy Frank has overseen the Lions’ recruiting efforts since 2014, and he remains as the General Manager of Personnel and Recruitment, which is a new title. His staff includes:

Kenny Sanders – Director of Player Personnel

Caleb Tyler – Director of Recruiting Content

Hunter Carson – Recruiting coordinator for communication strategy

Catherine Kennedy* – Recruiting coordinator for operations and visits

Chris “Slim” Mahon – Recruiting coordinator for personnel

Alan Zemaitis – Recruiting coordinator for personnel

Rashad Elby* – Assitant recruiting coordinator for personnel

Rashad Rich* – Assistant recruiting coordinator for personnel

Shannon Wellman* – Assistant recruiting coordinator for operations and visits

Meet the player development and video staff

Dann Kabala is in a new role this year as the director of football player relations, which is part of the player development staff. His tasks very, however much of his time focuses on helping with name, image, and likeness (NIL) matters). Kabala is joined Will Flaherty, the director of player development and community relations, while Lauren Geppert is the director of player engagement.

As for the video team, longtime staffer Jevin Stone heads up that department as the director of coaching technology. Joe Loosemore is the assistant video director.

Here is the Penn State sports medicine staff

The Penn State football media guide lists six people here.

Andy Mutnan is the head athletic trainer. Raymond Champagne, Tesa Johns-Bostick, and Matt Peragine are all listed as football athletic trainer. Dr. Wayne Sebastianelli is the director of athletic medicine, while Dr. Gregory Billy is the team physician.

Meet the Lions’ academic staff

Todd Kulka heads up this staff as the director of football academic services. Ashleigh Hayes is the assistant director of football academic support services. Cheryl Anderson, Nicole Rao, Gabby Runge, and Taylor Thomas all have the title of learning specialist, while Bridget Kisslak is the administrative support assistant.

Additional support staff and equipment staff

Hedi Erb is the executive assistant to the head football coach. Angie Hummel is the administrative support assistance for business and finance, while Riley Joslin is the director of football social media. Greg Kincaid is the associate director of strategic communications for football, while Kris Petersen is the associate athletic director for strategic communications. Zach Osborne is the recruiting graphic designer, while Wally Richardson is the director of the Football Lettermen Club.

Finally, Ben Herman is the senior director of football equipment and Austin Cruz* is the director of football equipment.