Penn State adds pair of analysts to off-field staff, including one with head coaching experience
Penn State football has added two new analysts to its off-field support staff. One of them is a former head coach. The Nittany Lions hired former Kent State graduate assistant Zach Terrill and one-time Central Connecticut head coach Jeff McInerney to their support staff. Both will serve in the role of defensive analyst and analytics coordinator. They replace Gabe Infante and Rick Lyster, who both left Penn State following the 2023 season to take on-field jobs at Duke with former Lions defensive coordinator Manny Diaz.
McInerney is a Bethlehem, Pa., native who attended Slipper Rock. The 63-year-old former linebacker spent the last four seasons in the USFL. His last college job came at Indiana, where he served as a quality control coach from 2016-2018. His time in Bloomington overlapped with new Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Allen. McInerney was 48-41 as the head coach at Central Connecticut from 2006-2013. His coaching career, which dates back to 1981, also includes stops at Duke, USC, UNLV, and Rhode Island, among others.
Terrill spent one season as a graduate assistant with the Golden Flashes. Before that, he spent two seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Indianapolis after starting his coaching career as a position coach at his alma mater, Olivet Nazarene University, before becoming a GA at Midland University in 2021. The Richmond, Ind., native was a linebacker at the NAIA school.
Tracking Penn State 2024 staff changes to date
Penn State has now hired five new analysts this offseason. In addition to Terrill and 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.
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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. Ahmad’s position is still listed.
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.
