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Penn State adds former NFL assistant, NCAA coordinator Ola Adams to support staff

Greg Pickelby:Greg Pickel•05/24/23•

GregPickel

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Penn State announced a new partnership with Altius to "bolster its comprehensive NIL program."

Penn State football is adding a veteran of the college and professional coaching ranks to its off-field support staff. Former Denver Broncos assistant defensive backs coach Ola Adams has accepted an analyst role with the Nittany Lions, a source confirmed to Blue-White Illustrated.

Adams was a four-star starter at safety for Division II program Concord University during his playing days. He also ran track for the school. The Philadelphia native started his post-playing career as an assistant at Concord in 2008. From there, he would spend two different stints at Cortland University, where he eventually became the assistant head coach and co-defensive coordinator. He also spent a year at Glevillle State College in 2010.

Adams’ first taste of the NFL came as part of the league’s minority internship program. He later coached receivers at Columbia for a season. He’d then spend multiple seasons at Villanova, where he did everything from overseeing the running backs, receivers, and special teams to eventually becoming the FCS school’s defensive coordinator in 2019. He held that role until 2022, when joined the Temple staff as co-defensive coordinator. But, he was back in his hometown for roughly a month before leaving to join the Broncos organization.

Penn State off-field changes are plentiful ahead of the 2023 season

Adams, who was previously part of the American Football Coaches Association’s 35 under 35 recognition list, is not the only new off-field hire for Penn State since the 2022 season ended. He is joined by new analysts Calvin Lowry, who is of course an alum who will focus on the offense, and Eric Sachse, who has special teams responsibilities.

In the recruiting department, DJ Bryant joins the program from Colorado. And, Khalil Ahmad joins the Lions after a stint at Syracuse.

There have been on-field changes too, of course. Lions letterman Torrence Brown and Chris Seh are new graduate assistants. Brown replaces Deion Barnes, who is now the first-year defensive line coach at Penn Statem while Seh takes over for Dwayne Scott, who left for Pittsburgh. Marques Hagans is also in his initial season as the team’s receivers coach. The last two listed replace John Scott Jr., who left for the NFL’s Detroit Lions, and Taylor Stubblefield, who was fired and is now at Air Force, respectively.

Penn State has worked to beef up its off-field staff since James Franklin arrived. It’s done so in previous offseasons. Now, it’s doing so again.

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