Penn State adds letterman and alum Jordan Lucas to recruiting staff
Penn State football is adding another letterman and alum to head coach James Franklin’s staff. Former Nittany Lions defensive back Jordan Lucas is joining the program as a recruiting coordinator for personnel and recruitment. Lucas most recently spent time on Charles Huff’s staff at Marshall.
The New York native made his debut for the Lions in 2012. Over nearly 50 games in blue and white, the defensive back amassed 119 tackles, four sacks, and three interceptions and was a multi-time All-Big Ten pick. He was a sixth-round selection of the Miami Dolphins in 2016 and made 47 tackles and had an interception over 50 career NFL games (four stars) for three different teams between 2016 and 2021. Lucas won a Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2019. He graduated from Penn State back in December.
Franklin, who enters his 11th season in State College, has made bringing former players back a priority when the fit makes sense. Lucas joins Penn State standout Alan Zemaitis in the recruiting department. Lions legend Dan Connor has been an analyst on the staff for multiple years. Onetime Lions receiver Terry Smith is the only staffer left from Franklin’s original 2014 on-field group. He is now the associate head coach, defensive recruiting coordinator, and cornerbacks coach. Former offensive lineman Ty Howle is the team’s co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach, and former defensive linemen Deion Barnes and Torrence Brown serve as the program’s defensive line coach and a graduate assistant focused on that position group, respectively.
Tracking Penn State 2024 staff changes to date
Penn State has now hired five new analysts this offseason. In addition to Zach Terrill and Jeff McInerney, it also brought former graduate assistant Mark Dupuis back in an analyst role earlier this month. He spent the last four seasons as the wide receivers coach at Old Dominion. Additionally, the program has added Bill Queisert and Thomas Allen in the analyst department. They came to Penn State with new coordinators Andy Kotelnicki (offense) and Tom Allen (defense), respectively. Analysts who have moved on include Ola Adams (now the defensive backs coach at Indiana), Rick Lyster and Gabe Infante (who took on-field roles with Manny Diaz at Duke), and Calvin Lowry, who is now the running backs coach at Middle Tennessee State.
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The Lions also lost Khalil Ahmad from the recruiting department. He took a promotion at Syracuse. Assistant recruiting coordinator for operations and visits Shannon Wellman has moved on, as well. She is replaced by recent Penn State alum Karsyn Kehler. Lucas slots into Ahamd’s role.
As of Friday, the on-field staff changes for Penn State are at the coordinator spots, with the aforementioned Kotlenicki and Allen replacing Mike Yurcich and Diaz, respectively. And, Stacy Collins is going back to Boise State. But, the Lions have hired Justin Lustig from Vanderbilt to replace him as the team’s special teams coordinator. Otherwise, the rest of Franklin’s 10-man assistant coaching staff is still intact as the offseason begins.
